Ruins of Fort Lancaster

Capt. Stephen D. Carpenter founded Camp Lancaster with companies H and K of the First United States Infantry, the Handbook of Texas says, and it became Fort Lancaster on August 21, 1856. Carpenter and Capt. R. S. Granger traded command until the federal troops left in March 1861. The first buildings were picket canvas and portable Turnley prefabricated structures. Crockett County received the site in 1965 and gave it to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1968. Texas Rural Communities managed it from 1993, and the Texas Historical Commission took control on January 1, 2008.

What the plaque says

Established in 1855 by the United States Government as a protection to travelers and mail on the overland route from San Antonio to San Diego. Abandoned in 1861. Reoccupied in 1868 for a short time. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Lancaster State Historic Site — steps away
  An 1855 post on Live Oak Creek above the Pecos, on the lower road to El Paso, where the army's camels passed three times and Buffalo Soldiers held off an attack in 1867.
• Alley Oop Park and Iraan Museum — 21 mi
  An oil-boom town named for Ira and Ann Yates, where the creator of the caveman comic Alley Oop once worked, and a park of giant cartoon figures beside the town museum.

More markers nearby

• Old Government Road — 1.6 mi
• Howard's Well — 1.6 mi
• Hoover, Laura and William Peery — 14 mi
• Crockett County's First Producing Oil Well — 23 mi