Site of the First Court House Built in Reagan County

Stiles grew up around sheep and goat ranchers who came in the 1890s, and it took its name from Gordon Stiles, who gave land for the townsite; a post office opened in 1894. After two temporary frame courthouses, the county built a two-story courthouse in 1911 of stone quarried near town. The Orient railroad's first survey ran through Stiles, but a rancher refused to let it cross his land, and the line went through Big Lake instead. After the Santa Rita strike Stiles declined; its post office was gone by 1939, and in 2000 four people lived there.

What the plaque says

Site of the First Court House Built in Reagan County The following officials were installed May 8, 1903 Joseph J. Boyd, judge, J. B. Lucas, clerk, Henry Japson, sheriff and tax col., Frank Ramsey, treasurer, W.C. Shamlin, surveyor, M. D. Sutherland, assessor, Commissioners: Jno. E. Gardner, W. C. Castlebury, A. J. Kerchville, G. F. Kirk. The county seat was moved in 1925 to Big Lake. Erected by the State of Texas 1936

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Rankin Museum (Yates Hotel) — 26 mi
  The fireproof hotel Ira Yates built beside the Orient railway depot months after oil came in on his ranch in 1926, kept as it was down to the wicker lobby furniture.

More markers nearby

• Stiles Cemetery — 1.3 mi
• Town of Texon — 14 mi
• Santa Rita No. 1 — 14 mi
• City of Big Lake — 15 mi