Hudspeth County

The county nearly carried another name: it was first to have been Darlington County, then Turney County, before the legislature settled on Hudspeth. Farming drove its one real boom. In the 1920s the number of farms grew from thirty-five to 194, and 160 improved acres in 1920 became 15,700 acres of harvested cropland by 1930, when 3,728 people lived here. Sheep rose from 304 in 1920 to 31,338 in 1940. Groundwater found in the late 1940s set off a smaller boom around Dell City, but heavy pumping had lowered the water table by the mid-1950s.

What the plaque says

Hudspeth County Formed from El Paso County; created February 16, 1917, organized August 25, 1917. Named in honor of Claude Benton Hudspeth born in 1877. A native Texan, holder of larger ranching interests, member of the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress. Sierra Blanca, the county seat.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hudspeth County Courthouse — 0.4 mi
  The only courthouse in Texas built entirely of adobe, in the Sierra Blanca railroad town where Southern Pacific and Texas and Pacific crews met in 1881.

More markers nearby

• The Killing of General J. J. Byrne — steps away
• America's Second Transcontinental Railroad — steps away
• Fort Quitman, C.S.A. — 0.3 mi
• August Fransal — 0.6 mi