EL PASO, Texas -- On Sunday, some El Pasoans witnessed history unearthed.

"For almost 50 years, we've been parking on top of it," says Les Parker, President and CEO of United Bank of El Paso. Beneath the streets downtown, in the forgotten basement of an old bank and just beyond grafittied walls, a 25-ton piece of history has gone unnoticed until now.

"Most of these vaults were custom made, when they were bought back then. Everything was handmade just about. So you'll see a lot of unique designs," says Bobby Brookshire, president of Eastwood Locksmith.

The handcrafted door is estimated to date back to the 1870s. It was manufactured by Diebold Safe and Lock Company in Ohio. Between parking spots the historic vault door is brought back to the surface. The parking lot at the corner of Stanton and Mills used to be the Southwest National Bank, then the First City National Bank. Both housed the vault.

Parker explains, "El Paso was the financial center of the Southwest. We were the place to be." The building was demolished and paved into a parking lot in the 1970s.

"Because no one needed it, no one wanted it," Parker says. "The vault door was so heavy, so massive, that they decided just to put it down in the basement."

Restoration experts say it'll take at least three months to bring the door back to its original beauty. Brookshire enthusiastically explains, "It's probably a once in a lifetime shot to see something of this age and to get to work on it and to lay my hands on it and to see what we can do to make it look original."

Not many witnessed the historic moment, but those who did were overjoyed by the experience. "It's like a diamond in the rough, finding something really nice that we'll be able to enjoy here in El Paso," says El Paso native Terri Stevens.

The restored bank vault door will be on display at the United Bank of El Paso's new location at 401 East Main. That location is scheduled to open in about 15 months.

by ABC-7 Reporter/Anchor Veronique Masterson