Upland First Upton County Seat

Henry Mayer Halff, who laid out Upland, was a San Antonio-born rancher with ninety sections east of the Pecos, running the Circle Dot, Quien Sabe and JM brands, and he based his cattle business in the old George W. Elliott rock house in Upton County. He kept 3,000 Herefords on the Quien Sabe alone, bred polo ponies and pioneered irrigation near Midland. As early as 1908 water from his Midland farm was hauled by ox team to drill wells at East Upland, and he sold Upland lots for the price of a notary fee.

What the plaque says

Upland First Upton County Seat Now abandoned, the town of Upland (10 miles N) was intended as a station on the rail line from St. Louis to Chihuahua, Mexico. It was also located near the stage route of the Butterfield mail line. Henry Halff and his son platted the townsite in 1908 and a school opened the same year. In 1910 Upland was named the first county seat and a stone courthouse was constructed later. By passed by new rail lines and suffering from a severe drought, the town declined. Homes and buildings were moved here by 1921 when Rankin became the new seat of government. (1980)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Rankin Museum (Yates Hotel) — 0.4 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.
• Mendoza Trail Museum — 18 mi
  A 1966 museum in a 1925 oil town, named for the Spanish officer who crossed this country in 1683 at the invitation of the Jumano, with a 1915 bungalow beside it.
• 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

• John C. Upton and His Brother, W. F. Upton — steps away
• First State Bank of Rankin — steps away
• Site of First Church in Upton County — 0.4 mi
• Rankin Cemetery — 1.0 mi