The Texas Historian, Volume 31, Number 1, September 1970 Page: 1
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by COLLEEN WALL
MARFA HIGH SCHOOL
A HISTORY OF MARFAWest side of Marfa's main street in 1918
MARFA is the name of a busy West Texas
town and the heroine in a Russian novel. The
town came into existence as a watering place
and freighting headquarters for the Southern
Pacific Railroad upon completion of its line
from San Antonio to El Paso in 1882. The
name was selected by the wife of the chief
engineer of the railroad who happened to be
reading the Russian novel.
In 1885, when J. M. Dean, an attorney
from El Paso, bought the land around the
railroad depot, Marfa had one or two saloons,
a hotel, and a general merchandise store,
Humphris and Company. The store also con-
tained the bank, post office, and a restaurant.
Hotel St. George was a busy stopping place
for the "drummers" who came to Marfa by
train, set up headquarters at the hotel, and
made trips by stage to Shafter, Fort Davis,
Valentine, and Presidio. Dean decided to
change the county seat from Fort Davis to
Marfa. He accomplished his objective bysimply moving all the records. Later, an elec-
tion was held to make the move legal. Many
people felt that there had been fraud in the
election. The people of Alpine believed that
they had as much right to the seat of govern-
ment as Marfa. This dissatisfaction soon led to
a movement that resulted in the creation of
two more counties out of the domain of
Presidio County. Brewster County was organ-
ized in February, 1887; Jeff Davis County
followed in March. The same year the county
jail was finished at Marfa, and C. L. Nevill
became the first sheriff of Presidio County.
The years of greatest development and
progress in Presidio County were from 1885
to 1910. St. Mary's Catholic Church was
established in 1885 with Father Francisco
Maas, from San Antonio, as the first parish
priest. The Protestant influence was also ap-
parent that same year with the appearance of
the Union Sunday School, organized and
taught by Mrs. John Humphris. The Sunday1 ., l- ;n~alarPcrarJrsaclslllll
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Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 31, Number 1, September 1970, periodical, September 1970; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391314/m1/3/?q=%22thurber+%22~1&rotate=0: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.