Site of First Ward County Courthouse

Barstow was the creation of a Rhode Island land promoter, George E. Barstow, who in 1892 formed the Barstow Improvement Company to sell land watered by the Pecos. He built canals and a dam and brought trainloads of prospective settlers to the town. Farms grew grapes, peaches, pears and melons, and the Barstow Irrigation Company won a silver medal for grapes at the 1904 World's Fair. That same year an earthen dam on the Pecos burst, and the floodwater salted the soil. Droughts followed in 1907 and 1910, and by 1918 farming had ceased.

What the plaque says

Site of First Ward County Courthouse A Three-story red sandstone courthouse with a domed cupola was constructed here in 1893, one year after Barstow was elected first Ward County seat. The first elected officials to serve in the courthouse were R. D. Gage, co. judge; S. D. McWhorter, co. & dist. clerk; W. M. Ware, sheriff & tax collector; John W. Phillips, co. attorney; S. H. Parker, tax assessor; J. B. Carson, surveyor; J. J. Walker, treas.; Pat Wheat, Comm. No. 1; W. C. Carson, Comm. No. 2; Pat Duracke, Comm. No. 3; and A. D. Irvin, Comm. No. 4. The landmark was razed soon after the county seat moved to Monahans in 1938. All that remains is a cornerstone. (1985)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Roy Orbison Museum — 25 mi
  A volunteer-run room in the oil town where Roy Orbison spent his high school years, opened on request, with a guitar he played and his tinted prescription sunglasses.

More markers nearby

• Vicinity of Early Public Library — steps away
• Emigrants' Crossing — 6.4 mi
• Mrs. Lillie W. Cole — 6.4 mi
• Spanish Explorers — 6.4 mi