Kern Place is a historic neighborhood on the West side of El Paso, Texas. The neighborhood lies just east of the University of Texas at El Paso, and north of downtown. Kern is part of District 1 in the City of El Paso and currently represented by Peter Svarzbein. The neighborhood was created by Peter E. Kern, and once had an unusual gate marking the entrance. Madeline Park in the center of the neighborhood is named after Kern's daughter. Businesses and a small entertainment district border the eclectic housing featured in the neighborhood. History Kern Place was founded by Peter E. Kern (1860-1937), for whom the neighborhood was named. Kern first came to El Paso in 1881. In 1886, he purchased large amounts of land from Juan and Guadalupe Ascarate and the largest of his purchases, the McKelligon tract, became Kern Place subdivision. In 1913, a paved road was created on Mesa Avenue and leading to the area known as Kern Place. Kern had an engineer, W.I. Rider, help him develop plans for the neighborhood. Construction began on November 21, 1914. A 1914 ad in the El Paso Herald described horse trails, planned parks, homes for sale under $3,500 and access to public transportation. Kern named the streets after friends and for places he "admired." Kern also did not want commercial properties on his land. Kern borrowed the money to develop the property from Texas Bank & Trust which later merged with First National Bank. In 1915, Kern had 500 trees planted in Madeline Park, located in Kern Place, which he gave to the city of El Paso later that same year. On May 4, 1926, Kern sold the land that made up Kern place. In 1959, Clinton and Hal Dean Jr. bought Kern Place property and build the Kern Village Shopping Center. In the 1970s, Kern Place was used strategically to demonstrate that there was a problem with lead contamination and the nearby ASARCO plant in El Paso. Investigators chose to show that wealthy children from the Kern Place area also had high levels of lead in their blood in order to combat the assertion that only poor, uneducated El Pasoans were being affected by the problem. In 2001, a report was published by the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) documenting high levels of arsenic and lead in the soil in areas around Kern Place. Any community