Turner-Davis Ranch Headquarters

The Angora goats that drew ranchers here reached the United States in 1849 with James B. Davis of South Carolina, and William Walton Haupt of Hays County brought the first eight to Texas in 1857-58, crossing them with short-haired Mexican goats. The Edwards Plateau proved suited to them, and in 1884 the California breeder William M. Landrum moved his herd to Uvalde County. Texas led the nation in mohair by 1900. In 1992 Texas ranchers reported two million Angoras, producing 14.2 million pounds of mohair, most of it from the plateau.

What the plaque says

Turner-Davis Ranch Headquarters Located nineteen miles west of Rocksprings, the Turner-Davis Ranch Headquarters is a testimonial to the ranching way of life. Established in 1921, the ranch is located in the Edwards Plateau region. The rugged terrain is composed of limestone bedrock and thickets of oak, mesquite and cedar. Not an ideal place for farming, the area attracted ranchers specifically raising Angora goats for the mohair industry. J.R. "Ruby" Davis and his wife, Helen, owned and operated the ranch until 1941. Following WWII, Watt W. Turner and his wife, Elma Evans, bought the ranch from the Fred Cross Family who kept it operating through the war. The Turner Family and their heirs owned the ranch until 2003. The Headquarters' main residence is a one-story structure made of wood with a steeply pitched metal roof first built in the early 1920s. The Headquarters' buildings were built to last in pioneer style and were improved upon by each ranching family. In the 1950s, the Bracero program allowed Mexican workers to work on Texas ranches, and the Turner Ranch relied heavily on Mexican labor. After Watt Turner's death, his brother, Clarence Turner, took over the ranch and kept the Headquarters' buildings and miles of fencing in good condition. Carl Hyde leased the Ranch from the Turner estate in 1978 with renewed optimism for the mohair industry. He built a new house in 1979 on the Ranch for the foreman, Arnulfo Silva, and his family. The eight-section ranch operated for 82 years until it was sold to a developer in 2003 and subdivided. At one time, the Turner-Davis Ranch supported 6,000 head of livestock. (2014)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area — 20 mi
  A 140-foot shaft into a cavern outside Rocksprings, seen only on guided tours from a platform at the rim as some three million bats spiral out on summer evenings.
• Devils River State Natural Area — 26 mi
  Two remote units on a spring-fed river of the Lower Pecos canyons, reached by reservation only, where rangers lead weekly walks to painted shelters like those Amistad drowned.

More markers nearby

• Mackenzie Trail — 12 mi
• Jess L. Hankins and King P-234 — 16 mi
• Substation No. 14 — 17 mi
• First Methodist Church of Rocksprings — 20 mi