Culberson County, Texas

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: culberson_county, texas us_history

Welcome to the Culberson County, Texas Project

• Texas Space Page
• The current leader of this project is: Mary Richardson.
• The coordinator of this page is Robert Branham.

Culberson County Courthouse

Contents 1 Formed From 2 Adjacent counties 3 History/Timeline 4 Government Offices 5 Geography 6 Local Resources 6.1 Protected areas 7 Demographics 7.1 Cities 7.2 Ghost Towns 7.3 National Register of Historic Places 7.4 Events//Festivals 7.5 Recreation Areas 7.5.1 Churches 7.5.2 Schools 7.6 Public Schools 7.7 Private Schools 8 Cemeteries 9 Historical Census 10 Notables 11 Sources

Formed From

• Mar, 1911, Culberson County was created from El Paso County and organized 1912. It was named for David Browning Culberson, a Texas Congressman. Its county seat: is Van Horn.

Adjacent counties

Northwest		North Eddy County, New Mexico	Northeast
West Hudspeth County		Culberson County, Texas		East Reeves County
Southwest		South Jeff Davis County	Southeast

History/Timeline

The Clovis peoples in this area lived in caves or rock shelters near the infrequent water sources. These people left some artifacts and pictographs giving the evidence of their history. The area was unfriendly to white settlers for years, thus they did not venture here. ^[1]

1582-1583 The Jumano Indians guided Antonio de Espejo on his trip to Torah Lake as he searched for a good farming and trade area. His diary gives the place where the Jumano indians were as the Pecos River and creeks.^[1]

Antonio de Espejo encountered the Mescalero Apache East of the Guadalupe Mountains. They would go there and irrigate their crops. His map shows the area where the Mescaleros farmed. By the 17th century these Mescaleros had expanded their favorite hunting and farming area.

^[2]

1848 - The San Antonio - El Paso part of the San Antonio-California Trail was surveyed by John Coffee Hays.^[2]

July 1848, Texas Secretary of War William L. Marcy expressed the need for a military post established on the north side of the Rio Grande. So they sent Maj. Jefferson Van Horne to set up a fort. ^[2]

1849 after the Mexican American War, John Salmon "Rip Ford also explored this area as well as the area between san Antonio and El Paso. He also noted where the Mescaleros farmed.

1850 After treaty of Hidalgo,Texas Commissioner, Robert Simpson Neighbors went to El Paso. ^[2]

Lt. Francis Theodore Bryan also explored the San Antonio - El Paso by way of Fredericksburg also camped at Guadalupe Pass. In his report he recommended "sink wells" along the route. ^[2]

1850 - John Russell Bartlett was commissioned to make sure the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was followed. Bartlett declared the Guadalupe Mountains dark and gloomy, and proposed a transcontinental railroad be built south of the peaks. Three years later, Capt. John Pope went to start the railroad and find artesian water. ^[2]

1857-1861- The San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line and the Butterfield Overland Mail delivered mail and passengers ( if they had the $200 for the travel). ^[2]

Rival railway companies compete for rights of way. The Texas and Pacific Railway agree to share the tracks. ^[2]

1882 - First settlers arrived After the railways opened, the ranchers came to settle. First Lobo settled and a Lobo Hotel was built, however two (2) earthquakes in 1929 and another in Valentine. destroyed the hotel. ^[2][3]

1972 - Guadalupe Mountains National Park was established. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1966 legislation to create the park. All mineral, oil and gas rights were to be held by the Federal government.^[2]

There were no boundary changes and no record loss due to courthouse disaster.^[4]

2000's Blue Origin, the space vehicle development company founded by Jeff Bezos, has its sub-orbital launch site 25 miles north of Van Horn, Texas.^[1]

Reynolds Family Ranches, Location- Culberson, Dallam, Hartley, and Jeff Davis Counties. Acreage: 250,000 Acres USED for cow-calf

Berber Watkins Reynolds arrived in Texas in 1845 from Arizona. He settled on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River east of Fort Griffin in the Davis Mountain area. He started a ranch, and children married children of a neighbor, Joe Beck Matthews. George and William Reynolds founded their Reynolds Cattle Company. The trail drives were the basis of the movie "Lonesome Dove"..

The 250,000 acres of Long X Ranch is less as some land was sold to the actors Tommy Lee Jones and Emmett McCoy as well as the 100,000 acre Rita Blanca Ranch (which came from the XIT Ranch).. Their holdings consisted of the Long X Ranch—once 250,000 acres, it is now 150,000, parts having been sold to actor Tommy Lee Jones and Emmett McCoy (see page 123)—and the 100,000-acre Rita Blanca, which was carved out of the old XIT. The Ranch land was passed down so the land is four pieces of land each being owned by a descendant of George or William. ^[5]

The biggest Ranches-Texas

1939 another of the large ranches, BRISCOE Ranches are 640,000 acres and located in the many counties: Brewster, Culberson, Dimmit, La Salle, Maverick, McMullen, Uvalde, Webb, and Zavala counties. The Primary Use is cow-calf, farming, Angora goats, and oil and GAS

Many people who inherit large ranches eventually downsize them. This does not apply to Dolph Briscoe, Jr., Texas’ governor from 1973 to 1979. Now 75, Briscoe inherited 190,000 acres when his father, Dolph Briscoe, Sr., died in 1954. He has more than tripled his holdings, making him Texas’ largest individual landowner and leases 100,000 acres in Maverick and Cochran counties. . ^[6]

The biggest Ranches-Texas

Government Offices

1912 First courthouse

1912 The first Courthouse first building was 2 story built in 1912. This lasted a number of years.^[7]

1964 Culberson County Courthouse

1964 The Second Courthouse was built with only one story, not ostentatious, but still currently serves the county's needs.^[8]

Geography

Culberson County is located in the Big Bend County area of West Texas. It is the fifth largest county in Texas by area. Most of its western border and the eastern portion of its northern border mark the change between the Central and Mountain Time Zones. The county contain spart of Guadalupe Mountains National Park in its NW corner where Texas' highest mountain, Guadaklupe Peakat 8,749 feet above sea level is located.

Guadalupe Monjtains National Park is characterized by arid peaks, colorful forests, sheltered cabyons, and sand dunes. The Guadalupe Mountains rise at the intersection of the Chihuahuan Desert, The Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountains. The summer rainy season makes the Park's maple and asn trees turn brilliant gold, orange, =and red, and the colors last longer in most yeas.

Culbertson county natural vegetation is scrub brush, grasses, cacti, creosote bush, post oak, chaparral, oak, juniper, mesquite, yucca, and agave, with Douglas fir, aspen, Arizona cypress, maple, and madrone trees in the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupes have bigtooth maple, ponderosa pine, chinquapin oak, Rocky Mountain juniper, Texas madrone, and Mexican buckeye, and some elk in Texas.

Airports

Hosprtals

Lakes

• Various Salt Lakes

Major Highways:

• Interstate Highway 10
• U.S. Highway 62/U.S. Highway 180
• U.S. Highway 90
• U.S. Highway 285
• State Highway 54

Mountains

• Apache Mountains
• Baylor Mountains
• Black Peak - 4,476 ft
• Delaware Mountains
• El Capitan - 8,085 ft
• Flattop Knob 5,155 ft
• Guadalupe Peak - 8,740'
• Van Horn Mountains
• Wylie Mountains

Railroads

• UP- Union Pacific Rilroad Company

Local Resources

Agriculture

• Beef Cattle
• Cotton
• Melons
• Oecans
• Vegetables
• Vegetables
• 6,000 acres in Irrication

Minerals

• Barite* Copper
• Dolomite
• Gypsum
• Lead
• Limestone
• Oil
• Molybdenum
• Salt
• Silver
• Sulfur
• Talc
• Zinc

Protected areas

• Guadalupe Mountains National Park
• Sierra Diable Wildlife Management Area

Demographics

In 2000 there were 2,975 people in the county with a population of 1 person/sq. mi. In 2010 2,398 people were in the county. 78.9% were White, 1.3% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.6% Black or African American, 15.4% of some other race and 2.8% of two or more races. 76.2% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race).^[9]

Cities

Population estimate as iof Jan 1, 2014 shown in parenthesis.

• Kent (30)
• Lobo
• Pine Springs- National Park's Visitor Center open the year-round
• Van Horn - county seat (2,040)

Ghost Towns

• Grisham Pumping Station
• Levinson
• Old Christian Place
• Ort
• Pezuna del Caballo
• Toyah

National Register of Historic Places

• Clark Hotel, Van Horn
• First Presbyterian Church, Van Horn
• Granada Cave, Toyah
• Guadalupe Ranch, Salt Flat
• Lobo Valley Petrograph Site, Lobo
• McKittrick Canyon Archeological District, Guadalupe Mountains Naptional Park, Sand Flat
• Pinery Station (aka Butterfield Statge Station), Guadalupe Mountains National Park
• Pratt,Wallace Lodge, Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Events//Festivals

• Big Buck Tournament
• Frontier Days in June

Recreation Areas

Favorite Hikes in Guadalupe Mountains National Park

• Bear Canyon Trail
• Devil's Hall Trai - 4.2 mile round trip that climbs about 500 feet
• Guadalupe Peak Traikl - 8.4 mile round trip (almost 3,000 vertical feet, take lots of water and snacks, bring extra clothes, and be prepared for possible bad weather)
• McKittrick Canyon Trail - 0.8 mile round trip to the Grotto that gains about 300 feet
• Salt Basin Dunes - 2 mile round trip (hike only in the cooler months)
• Smith Spring Trail - 2.3 mile loop that gains about 400 feet

• Tejas Trail* The High Country - 10.5 mile loop day hike or overnight trip that gains roughly 2,500 feet

Churches

* Assembly of God Church, Van Horn

• Church of Christ, Van Horn
•  :First Baptist Church, Van Horn
• First United Methodist Church. Van Horn
• Freeway Church of Christ, Van Horn
• Highway 54 Church of Christ, Van Horn
• Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Van Horn:
• Primera Iglesia Bautista, Van Horn
• Seventh Day Adventist Church. Van Horn

Schools

Rockin Schoolhouse

There is only one school (Pre-K thru 12th grade) in Culberson County. A second school is currently undee construction in 2016.

Public Schools

Listed by category within Independent School District (ISD)

Allamoore ISD Mascot = Eagle, Colors = Red & White

• Van Horn Schools, Van Horn, Texas

Private Schools

None

Cemeteries

There are 9 cemeteries in Culberson County.

• Boraccho Cemetery, Culberson County
• Cowden Family Ranch Cemetery, Kent
• D Ranch, Pine Springs
• Feely Cemetery, Culberson County
• Kent Cemetery, Kent
• Polancio Grave, Pine Springs
• Sibley Lost Chance Ranch Cemetery, Van Horn
• Van Horn Cemetery, Van Horn
• Van Horn Wells Cemetery, Van Horn

Historical Census

Census year	Population
1920	28,438
1930	28,337
1940	26,075
1950	42,348
1960	36,421
1970	16,375
1980	16,883
1990	17,205
2000	18,628
2010	19,807
2014	20,462[10]
Est: 2015	20,573

1920 -- 912

1930 -- 1,228

1940 -- 1,653

1950 -- 1,825

1960 -- 2,794

1970 -- 3,429

1980 -- 3,315

1990 -- 3,407

2000 -- 2,975

2010 -- 2,398

Est. 2014 - 2,266

Notables

• David Browning Culberson - civil war

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culberson_County,_Texas
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9} https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcc28
3. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Culberson_County,_Texas_Genealogy
4. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Culberson_County,_Texas_Genealogy
5. ↑ http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-biggest-ranches/
6. ↑ https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-biggest-ranches/
7. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Culberson_County,_Texas_Genealogy
8. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Culberson_County,_Texas_Genealogy
9. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culberson_County,_Texas
10. ↑ https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcg0

• https://texasalmanac.com/topics/government/culberson-county
• http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Van_Horn/Van_Horn_Texas.htm
• Culberson County, Texas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culberson_County,_Texas
• The Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. - http://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/
• Texas Almanac 2016 - 2017, Copyright (c) 2016 by Texas State Historical Association, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. All Rights Reserved, - https://shoptsha.com/products/12459/Books/Texas-Almanac-2016-2017
• Texas Highways, published by the Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, Texas, Copyright (c) 2016, All Rights Reserved. = http://www.texashighways.com
• FamilySearch cemeteries, Culberson family cemeteries
• [https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth5827/m1/274/ Culberson
• Backroads of Texas: The Sites, Scenes, History, People, and Places Your Map ...By Ed Syers, Larry Hodge
• https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcc28