Marfa Stockyards

Marfa itself began in 1883 as a water stop and freight headquarters for the same railroad, reportedly named by a railroad executive's wife after a character in Jules Verne's Michael Strogoff. The town sits at 4,830 feet on the Marfa Plateau, with the Davis Mountains to the north, the Chisos to the southeast and the Chinati to the southwest. Early poker bets were made with deeds to town lots, and drummers based at the St. George Hotel took stages out to Shafter, Fort Davis, Valentine and Presidio.

What the plaque says

Marfa Stockyards Built in 1920 by the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway company, the Marfa stockyards provided a central shipping point for livestock raised in Presidio, Jeff Davis, and Brewster counties. As many as 70,000 head of cattle were shipped from these pens in a single year. The facilities were enlarged in 1929 to handle the great volume of business. By the 1930s sheep and goats were also being shipped from here. Although business declined after the introduction of trucking to the area, the stockyards are still used to weigh animals prior to shipment. (1988)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Presidio County Courthouse — 1.2 mi
  Marfa's domed courthouse of 1886, a Second Empire landmark finished in time for a New Year's ball, its statue of Justice still missing the scales someone shot away.
• Chinati Foundation — 1.8 mi
  Donald Judd's museum on the grounds of old Fort D. A. Russell in Marfa, where art, buildings and land are meant to be seen together, by guided tour.
• Marfa Lights Viewing Area — 7.6 mi
  The roadside viewing area on US 90 nine miles east of Marfa, where people gather after dark to watch the horizon toward the Chinati Mountains for the Marfa lights.
• Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens — 18 mi
  The Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute's grounds south of Fort Davis, with an 18-acre botanical garden, a cactus museum and trails into the desert foothills.

More markers nearby

• Presidio County — 0.3 mi
• Fort D.A. Russell — 1.5 mi
• James Buchanan Gillett — 2.2 mi
• William Edward Russell — 2.3 mi