Camp grounds and lookout post (1850's-1880's) for military, mail coaches, freighters, travelers, emigrants. Site of area's last Indian raid, 1881. Part of John G. Prude Ranch.
Named by Gov. John Connally Dec. 21, 1964, to honor Barry Scobee . . . — — Map (db m59731) HM
Held each year since 1890. Founded by Rev. W.B. Bloys, a Presbyterian. His camp pulpit was an Arbuckle Coffee crate. First campers, 48 people from remote ranches and towns, slept in tents, wagons. Family groups had chuck-box meals, sharing with . . . — — Map (db m79373) HM
This building served as the residence for the commanding officer. Construction of the house began in 1867 under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Wesley Merritt, who was the first to move in and call it "home". Today it is furnished to the time . . . — — Map (db m218534) HM
Friend of Texas. Visited first as officer Mexican War 1847. As U.S. Secretary of War in 1855, built up frontier forts to open West Texas to settlers. Camels imported for patrols, hauling.
His Postmaster-General and personal aide were Texans, . . . — — Map (db m201871) HM
The Rev. L. R. Millican and the Rev. D. B. Rose established this church in 1896 with six charter members. Services were held on alternate Sundays in churches shared with the Methodist and Presbyterian congregations until 1921 when the Baptists . . . — — Map (db m61194) HM
Saturday, March 17, 1849 - The valley in which we were was narrow, the pack train was halted, but before any preparation could be made our scouts came galloping in from the front closely pursued by a large band of Apache. Simultaneously we were . . . — — Map (db m218359) HM
Built 1881 of adobe brick, by settlers P. H. Pruett, Cal Nations, James Dawson, Joe Dorsey. At the same time Pruett built home a half-mile west. A Texas Rangers' camp in area gave protection from Indians. Mrs. Pruett once made a midnight ride to . . . — — Map (db m61143) HM
The lodges were generally built of willow withes (a tough flexible twig) stuck into the ground, and bent over to form together a round-topped hut... and about high enough for a man to sit upright in it. This willow framework is covered with skins . . . — — Map (db m218361) HM
Area Indian tribes did not typically attack forts where they were outnumbered; they preferred surprise attacks on travelers along the San Antonio to El Paso Road.
Private George Kohlhaas and his fellow soldiers escorted wagons and patrolled the . . . — — Map (db m218504) HM
Captain Arthur T. Lee, the second commander of Fort Davis, painted many scenes of the fort and its countryside. One such scene depicts a woman known as Maggie beside her kitchen with tents and other surrounding structures. She and other camp . . . — — Map (db m218508) HM
In 1854 the U.S. Army established Fort Davis to protect travelers along the San Antonio to El Paso Road en route to the West and gold fields of California. Of the 200 men who staffed this garrison, 80% were born in Europe.
Serving only one . . . — — Map (db m218509) HM
Under the command of Lt. Colonel Washington Seawell, the 8th U.S. Infantry built Fort Davis in this picturesque box canyon in the Davis Mountains, using stone foundations, logs cut into slabs for the walls, and thatched roofing.
With packed . . . — — Map (db m218510) HM
Established by Lieut. Col. Washington Seawell with six companies of the Eighth U.S. Infantry in October 1854 for protecting travelers on the San Antonio-El Paso Road.
Named in honor of the then Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, it was . . . — — Map (db m26357) HM
First Protestant Church
between San Antonio and El Paso
This is the original structure built
1884 as a mission by the
Methodist Episcopal Church South — — Map (db m139130) HM
The 6,076-foot high peak traditionally known as Granado Mountain or La Granada was named for Trinidad Granado (1868-1958), a rancher whose ranch was at the base of the mountain. The original owner was Belgian-born founding settler Anton Diedrick . . . — — Map (db m212159) HM
Dedicated to the Men and Women of Jeff Davis County Who Have Served Their Country to Protect Our Freedom
Frank P. Adams • Harvey Adams • Scott Adams • Anton Aggerman • Robert A. Aggerman • Robert M. Aggerman • Don Agold • Adan Aguilar • . . . — — Map (db m218538) WM
Hotel Limpia, named for a nearby creek, was built here by the Union Trading Company in 1912. With a doctor's office, drugstore, stylish guest rooms, and spacious porches the hotel became a community social center where area news could be heard, a . . . — — Map (db m61192) HM
Formed from Presidio County. Created March 15, 1887. Organized May 16, 1887. Named in honor of Jefferson Davis. 1806-1868. President of the Confederate States. Fort Davis, County Seat, Presidio County, 1875. County Seat, Jeff Davis County, . . . — — Map (db m51483) HM
Designed by the architectural firm of L. L. Thurman and Co. of Dallas, this building was erected in 1910-1911 and replaced the original 1880 adobe courthouse. This concrete and stone Classical Revival edifice, erected by the Falls City Construction . . . — — Map (db m61144) HM
The community of Fort Davis grew up around the military post of the same name, established by the U.S. Army in 1854 to protect travelers on the San Antonio–El Paso Road. Fort Davis was designated as the Presidio county seat when the county was . . . — — Map (db m61191) HM
Lonn Wood Taylor (January 22, 1940-June 26, 2019), fifth-generation Texan, historian, storyteller, NPR and TV personality, and Rambling Boy columnist, lived the last 17 years of his life in Fort Davis. Five of his ten books were published during . . . — — Map (db m220362) HM
Ruins of
the ranch home of Manuel Musquiz,
a pioneer who settled here
in 1854
Abandoned due to Indian raids
the deserted buildings served as
a Ranger Station intermittently,
1880 - 1882
while the country was being
cleared of . . . — — Map (db m145336) HM
Original unit in complex forming one of the great observatory centers of the world. Built in the 1930s under terms of legacy from William Johnson McDonald (1844-1926), a Paris (Texas) banker interested in the stars. A well-educated man, McDonald . . . — — Map (db m228569) HM
The location of Fort Davis's town square is the outcome of competition between two pioneer entrepreneurs and two types of American townscapes.
Daniel Murphy was an Irish immigrant who saw service in Mexico during the Mexican War. He lived in . . . — — Map (db m218630) HM
Confederate supply point and frontier outpost on great military road from San Antonio to El Paso 1861-62. After surrendered by U. S. Army, occupied by detachment 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles. Apaches ambushed patrol from fort under Lt. Mays in Big Bend . . . — — Map (db m73299) HM
Used from 1870s to 1914. Settlers buried here include: Mr. and Mrs. Diedrick Dutchover, immigrants from Belgium and Spain; their surname, coined by a recruiter in the Mexican War, is borne by many descendants. Dolores, who on her wedding eve . . . — — Map (db m178374) HM
Andrew Prude purchased three sections of land here in 1897 from J.F. Taylor, and established the A.G. Prude Ranch. Soon he moved his wife Ora to a small log house on their property on Limpia Creek. In 1900 he completed a wooden frame house for . . . — — Map (db m128292) HM
Westward expeditions opened trails from San Antonio to El Paso in the late 1840s. Two routes, called the upper and lower roads, converged at the Pecos River to traverse the Davis Mountains.
Henry Skillman (1814-1864) began a courier service . . . — — Map (db m61196) HM
2nd Lieutenant Robert Safford
Troop C, 10th U.S. Cavalry
In July 1879, the young lieutenant came down with dysentery, an infection of the lower intestines that produces severe diarrhea, pain, and fever. He was scouting for Mescalero . . . — — Map (db m218511) HM
In 1873, Archie Smith, a former Buffalo Soldier in the 24th U.S. Infantry at Fort Davis, built a home on 160 acres near the base of Dolores Mountain using local materials. Native oak beams support the near-rectangular one-story adobe. A large room . . . — — Map (db m234776) HM
Catholic clergy began serving residents of the Fort Davis area about 1872. Father Joseph Hoban was appointed pastor in 1876 and the First St. Joseph Catholic Church building was erected in 1879. Father Hoban was followed by circuit-riding priest who . . . — — Map (db m61208) HM
Where you are standing was once a crossroads of activity for Fort Davis. Guarding the mail, building roads and telegraph lines, scouting for water, and searching for elusive Apaches or Comanches were not the only duties of soldiers. Many critical . . . — — Map (db m218392) HM
F Co. 2nd Bat. 142nd Inf. Reg. 36th Inf. Div. At Salerno, 9, Sept. 1943, alone: 4 machine gun nests, one mortar squad, one 88mm gun, wounded…kept going. At Cassino: knocked out Mark IV tank with a bazooka.
Distinguished Service Cross, Silver . . . — — Map (db m61145) HM
In 1854, the U.S. Army established Fort Davis, which extended from this location westward into the box canyon. Initially, the fort consisted of crude wooden buildings with thatched and canvas roofs. Six stone barracks were later erected for the . . . — — Map (db m96009) HM
Chapel... library. . . schoolroom. . . and Friday night ballroom, this unadorned building was the community center.
Mattie Belle Anderson, the town's first schoolteacher wrote, "A non- commissioned officer conducted a school for the children in . . . — — Map (db m218486) HM
An excellent example of a Queen Anne style house executed in native stone, adobe, and milled wood, this house was built about 1898 as a summer home for the family of Henry M. and Annie Trueheart, residents of Galveston, where Mr. Trueheart was a . . . — — Map (db m61195) HM
Founded 1873 by O. M. Keesey and Geo. Gaither in adobe building on this site. Later owned by W. Keesey, an army baker, who sold clothing, groceries, cradles, guns, whiskey, coffins, tobacco, spittoons, wagonwheels, and harness, and did private . . . — — Map (db m61193) HM
In early days the Indian trail through these mountains followed the gorge below known as Limpia Canyon. To avoid the floods travelers over the San Antonio - El Paso Road, emigrants, U.S. troops and supply trains, and the mail chose this higher pass . . . — — Map (db m239563) HM
Valentine was established in 1881 as a station on
the Southern Pacific Railroad. Although legend
suggests that the town received its name by being
founded on Valentine's Day, it is more likely that
it was named for Southern Pacific . . . — — Map (db m164555) HM
