Tornillo took its name from the Spanish word for screw-bean bush, a hardy firewood once common in the area. Efforts to develop it as a major agricultural center began after the United States Reclamation Service announced plans for dam and reservoir projects on the Rio Grande. An El Paso investment firm founded the Tornillo Townsite Company, which mapped the townsite in 1909, and a post office was established that same year. After completion of the Elephant Butte project north of El Paso, agricultural speculation increased. About 1917, J.B. Dale, Will T. Owen, and Louis J. Ivey planted 600 acres of cotton, harvested a successful crop, and built the town's first cotton gin. Their success drew other farmers and businessmen, and by the late 1920s Tornillo had several corporations, packing plants, a cattle feeding operation, several stores, and a modern school system. Its economy suffered during the Great Depression of the 1930s and never fully revived, and urban growth in nearby El Paso further contributed to the town's decline. Tornillo remains a symbol of early commercial development in El Paso County.