Go West Young Man, No, I Mean Old Photographer: 16 West Texas Counties in 3 Days

Mary Alice, Tanner and I left Cypress, Texas last Monday around 2pm, drove south on Fry Rd and turned west on I-10 and went all the way to Del Rio.  Our starting point for this trip to West Texas began at Del Rio, Texas, county seat of Val Verde County, a county courthouse that I had already photographed.  We got to Del Rio around 7:30pm and stayed at the La Quinta Inn. We choose La Quinta because they are a dog friendly and we like to travel with our Silky terrier, Tanner.

We were up early headed north on US90 and put Del Rio in our rear view mirror. 

The Pecos River is kind of a landmark.  Crossing it, you enter West Texas, land of big sky and desert landscape and Border Patrol vehicles.

The drive west on US90 can seem like a lonely affair.  There are relatively few 
vehicles, other passenger cars and commercial trucks, however, there are many Border Patrol vehicles with agents patrolling fence lines looking for foot prints of illegals crossing the highway.  We also passed through a Border Patrol check point.  After coming to a stop a young BP officer asked if we were both US citizens. He didn't ask Tanner, but we were on a way headed to Sanderson, Texas, our first courthouse stop of the trip.

We made a brief stop in Langtry, home to Judge Roy Bean, Justice of the Peace, Law West of the Pecos courthouse.  They were open but we didn't go inside as we were on a mission.

The Terrell County courthouse is a Mediterranean style courthouse with a red tile roof.  It was built in 1906. It is a nice looking building, however, it is hard to see and photograph the front of the building because of the large trees. This is a problem in other courthouse on this trip.

The far away hills are in Mexico

We left Sanderson and continued our westward journey.  The next stop of the day, Marathon, Texas, gateway to Big Bend National Park. We visited BBNP several years ago and you can see those photos at this link.  http://birdshooter.smugmug.com/organize/National-Parks/Big-Bend-National-Park

Marathon is home to the famous old hotel, the Gage Hotel.

http://www.gagehotel.com/

The nearly one hundred year old hotel is decorated in cowboy, indian and Hispanic cultures.  The Gage is definitely worth a stop even if you're not staying the night.

Just down the road from Marathon is Alpine, Texas, county seat of Brewster County.  The courthouse was finished in November 1887 and it came with a matching jail.  It seems no one knows who was the architect because that fact is left out of all historical records of Brewster County.  

http://birdshooter.smugmug.com/TexasCourthouses/Brewster-County-Alpine-Texas  All the photos of the Brewster County courthouse can be seen at this link.

I found these two building murals around the corner from the courthouse. Both are very well done by a very talented artist.

The drive from Alpine to Fort Davis in on State Highway 118.  It was the most colorful and mountainous section we went through.  

Our Chev Equinox GPS took us right to the Jeff Davis County courthouse in Fort Davis.  This courthouse has been beautifully restored.  It sits in the middle of the square.  We were blessed with a cloudless blue sky which made the courthouse pop out of the photo.  It was closed for lunch so we decided to do the same thing.  We found a small Mexican restaurant and enjoyed some local food.

The Jeff Davis County courthouse is Beaux-Arts style architecture with the clock tower built in 1910.  It was designed by architect L.L.Thurmon & Co of Dallas and it is built of stone and concrete.

 After lunch we went back to the courthouse and I went inside.  The inside is as stately as the exterior. The courtroom has a metal pressed ceiling.  

 The courtroom is furnished in period style chairs.

The crown moulding is painted in what looks like gold leaf.  It is really striking.

http://birdshooter.smugmug.com/TexasCourthouses/Jeff-Davis-County-Fort-Davis

All the photo of the Jeff Davis County courthouse can be seen at this link.

I noticed this colorful gas station/real estate office a block from the courthouse.  We continued our journey turning south on SH-17 to Marfa, county seat of Presidio County.  The Presidio County courthouse has a very tall copula that can be seen for miles from Marfa.  Arriving in Marfa, the stately courthouse stands tall and above any other structure in town.

The lady dominates the Marfa skyline.

That sword she holds is in stark contrast to her beauty.

The pink stucco with the white trim contrast beautifully with the bright blue sky.

There is even period furniture in the courtroom.

Visitors are allowed to climb up and into the copula where you can get a bird's eye view of Marfa.

The ceiling in the courtroom is polished wood.

The banister has a carved top.

After touring and photographing the courthouse, we drove a block south to the El Paisano Hotel where we had reservations for the night.  The hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It opened in 1930 and it is best known as the location headquarters for the cast and crew of the film Giant (1956) in the summer of 1955.  We stayed in the "James Dean" room. The hotel is described as Mediterranean architecture.  The lobby is beautifully restored and it reminds me of a huge ranch house.  The center court has a fountain surrounded by tables and chairs for guest and customers of the restaurant.
If you're interested in finding out about the movie Giant you can go to this link.  http://www.hotelpaisano.com/about-the-paisano/giant/

El Paisano Hotel lobby

Mary Alice relaxing on the patio

Mary Alice had never seen the "Marfa lights." So Wednesday night after supper we took off in the Equinox and headed east on US90.  The Texas Highway Department has built a nice viewing stand for people stopping to see the lights.  We arrived just as it was getting dark and there were already people there.  We saw them immediately, three points of light to the south and west.I tried to photograph them but if was too dark and windy.  Here is my attempt taken with a Sony RX1.

http://birdshooter.smugmug.com/TexasCourthouses/Presidio-County-Marfa-Texas

Other photos of Presidio County can be seen at the above link.

The red light is constantly blinking on and off.  The light to the right is one of the "mystery lights."

The next day we were up early and gone from Marfa as it would be a long, long day.  We did make one stop before the next courthouse and that was to see the "work of art" called PRADA Marfa.  It is a building out in the middle of nowhere, a few miles from the town of Valentine, with women's shoes on the shelves, very strange.

PRADA Marfa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prada_Marfa#Sculpture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethered_Aerostat_Radar_System

We continued on our journey west and passed the US Government blimp, officially named the Tethered Aerostat Radar System.  It is a low-level radar surveillance along the southwest border of the US and Mexico. 

The Culberson County courthouse in Van Horn reminded me of the courthouse in Aransas County, "motel style" and ugly.  

We didn't stay long and we were off west on I-10 to Sierra Blanca.  We crossed into the Mountain Time Zone just outside of Van Horn.  I love the posted speed limit on I-10 in West Texas, 80 MPH.  We were in Sierra Blanca, county seat of Hudspeth County.  This courthouse is unique.  It is the only courthouse in Texas built of adobe and has walls 18 inches thick.  This courthouse has been restored as part of the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.

The town's name sake, Sierra Blanca peak.

We continued west on I-10 to El Paso.  The speed limit changed to 75 MPH entering El Paso County.  At this point we were closed to California than Houston.  

The courthouse in El Paso is a modern brick and glass (mirror) building that is pleasing to the eye.  The constant sunshine in El Paso helps the mirror exterior reflect the surrounding buildings.  I knew there was a huge painted mural on the interior so I went inside and the law enforcement checkpoint.  I showed the Deputy Constable mt police id and explained to him what I was doing.  He led me through the metal detector and said I needed to go to the 3rd floor and pointed to the elevators.

http://www.epcounty.com/mural/ explains the murals, great read.

The murals on the high sides of the atrium are spectacular and they tell the story of El Paso.   

I walked back to the Equinox and about to put my camera up when I was confronted by an FBI agent and three US Deputy Marshalls. The FBI agent did all the talking and asked me why I was taking pictures of the courthouse. I went into an explanation of my project and they wanted to see my photos, which I obliged them.  After taking my name, address, and other info off my DL they let me go after explaining that they had been getting threats from the Mexican drug cartel and they wanted to make sure I wasn't a scout.  Now imagine me, a 66 yr old white guy wearing a Texas A&M t-shirt and Cold War Veteran ball cap and carrying a camera a terrorist.  I put my camera up and we were on our way to Pecos our next stop.

The Reeves County courthouse is nothing to write home about.  The front is obscured by trees.  It was designed by the architectural firm of Trost & Trost of El Paso.  It is classified as a Mediterranean style built in 1937.
We made a left turn at Pecos onto US 285 and drove to Mentone, Texas, county seat of Loving County, the smallest county in the Permian Basin of West Texas.  The county was organized in 1893, orginally part of Reeves County.  The county officials abandoned the county after it was learned that taxes were not collected for 1893 and 1894.  Mentone was abandoned and no town existed in the county.  The county was eventually reorganized.  Loving County is the least populated county in the US.  Well, we continued on SH302 to Kermit, Texas, county seat of Winkler County.

This courthouse is almost obscured by trees.  It is a Texas Renasiance style courthouse with nicely manicured grounds.  We were in a hurry so I didn't go inside.  

At Kermit, we made a right turn and headed south on SH18 toward Monahans. 

I started seeing these huge wind farms along the highway, huge wind generators mounted on far away mesas.  Who says Texas is just about oil?
We made it into Monahans and I quickly photographed the Ward County courthouse.

This was another courthouse which is obscured by trees.  I knew it was the courthouse because the sign told me.

Pecos County Courthouse, Fort Stockton, Texas












We made it to Fort Stockton, county seat for Pecos County.  The courthouse was already closed so I got exterior photos only.  We did find a "Texas store" on Main Street that had a lot of decorator items.

We spent the night in Fort Stockton at the La Quinta.  Life is good.

The next morning we were on the road back north of SH18 to SH329 to Crane, Texas and Crane County

This is another "motel" style courthouse so just one photo will do.  We headed to Rankin, Texas, county seat of Upton County.

Not much to say about this courthouse either, except it is modern and boring. We were off again to Big Lake, county seat of Reagan County.

Grandma's Kitchen, home of the best hamburgers

This is downtown Big Lake, Texas.  Notice the white pickup truck!  I started noticing all the white trucks on the roads, coming in and out of the oil fields. At least 90 percent of the vehicles I saw working the oil fields of these counties were white.  I asked why?  The only reason I could come to was that all the oil field roads were caleche (white) and the white dust doesn't show on white trucks.

We turned south on SH137 to Crockett County and the county seat, Ozona. Crockett County was named for David Crockett of the Alamo.  Ozona seems to be associated with promoters of the region and the fresh air there.

The Crockett County courthouse is a majestic building.  It is a Second Empire

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/tx/county/crockett/history.htm

design by Oscar Ruffini.  It has an unusual central tower with round frames for a clock but the county did not install a clock.  The courtroom has a pressed metal ceiling. 

We put our home into the GPS and left Ozona at 11:00AM.  We would arrive in Cypress around 5:30 PM.  I took a couple of photos of Texas flagged trucks on the way home I happened to see along I-10.  

Texans are a proud lot and show it when they can.  We traveled 1709 miles on this three day journey and it went by fast.