SIERRA DE CRISTO REY

SIERRA DE CRISTO REY. The Sierra de Cristo Rey is located one quarter mile north of the United States-Mexico border and one mile west of the Rio Grande and El Paso, Texas, in southern Doña Ana County, New Mexico (at 31°47' N, 106°33' W). At an elevation of 4,675 feet above sea level, it rises some 815 feet above the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks ½ mile to the north. Father Lourdes F. Costa, an El Paso priest, had the idea to erect a cross and statue of Christ at the top, giving the mountain its name, which means "mountain of Christ the king" in Spanish. The statue was dedicated on October 29, 1939.