Nestled at the foot of the Davis Mountains are the remains of a magnificent fort, Fort Davis. It was established in 1854 on the San Antonio-El Paso road to protect travelers. Like Fort Stockton, it was abandoned by the US Army during the civil war but re- established afterwards. African-American soldiers were deployed there.
It's now a National Historic Site. The museum tells the story of how the soldiers lived and what they did.
The barracks where the enlisted soldiers slept. John tries out the cot and deems it not so comfy.
The Davis Mountains. The fort was named for Jefferson Davis who, at the time, was Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. After the Civil War, the fort was re-established in 1867. The soldiers would scout/patrol all the way down to Big Bend for the purpose of keeping it safe for the travelers, settlers and the mail service that used this route. While several of the buildings are still in tact, others are just the ruins of what was there. This was the junior officer's quarters. Luckily, the Park service is trying to reconstruct the buildings.
This was the post Church. A lot happened here. Church services, obviously, but also dances, meetings and unfortunately, a court martial. Second Lieutenant Henry Flipper was born into slavery. He was also the first African American Graduate from West Point. His military career was going well. Stationed at Fort Davis, he was the assistant quartermaster. Then money that he was responsible for went missing. He was found not guilty but because he tried to hide the loss, he was dismissed from the military for conduct unbecoming of an officer. It wasn't until 1976 that his discharge was changed from dishonorable to honorable. Then in 1999, he was given a full pardon by President Bill Clinton.
In 1891, the fort was deemed no longer useful and was ordered abandoned.
In 1871, the town of Fort Davis was the county seat of what was then Presidio County. The original courthouse burned down in the early 1900s. But prior to that in 1885, the railroad skipped Fort Davis and went through Marfa instead. That moved the county seat of Presidio county to Marfa. The citizens of Fort Davis were not happy. They immediately petitioned to get their own county, which they did in 1887. This courthouse was built in 1911.
The county jail was built across the street from the courthouse in 1911. The front of the jail was divided into rooms for the jailer and included a kitchen, office, bedroom and the front entryway. The back of building is where the cellblocks were. The building was converted to a museum and has panels giving the biographies of the sheriffs and employees that worked there. I would loved to have gone inside but it was closed while we were there.
The Hotel Limpia, named for the nearby creek, was built in 1912. It was a place where the people gathered for social interaction, to catch up on news, etc. For a while it was converted to apartments but then back in 1978, the hotel was reestablished.
The Fort Davis Drugstore was established in 1913 and was originally located inside Hotel Limpia and was a social gathering place. In 1942, C.R. Fryer bought the store from Dr. & Mrs. Eaton and they moved it from the hotel to this location across the street. In the early 1980s, new owners took over and added hotel space to the building. Now, it's a full-service restaurant and hotel but it still has its original soda fountain.
Founded in 1873, the Union Mercantile was in this building. Owned by W. Keesey, they sold a little bit of everything from groceries to clothing to guns to wagon wheels. The original adobe structure was replaced by this stone structure in 1906. The first telephone in the county operated out of this store. It is now the Jeff Davis County Library.
St. Joseph's Catholic Church began in 1872. The first church was erected in 1879. There were several friars that would travel around to the 18 churches in the area to minister to the people. This building was erected in 1899.
High up in the Davis mountains is where the stars come out to play. We attended a "Star Party" hosted by the McDonald Observatory.
The observatory is run by the University of Texas at Austin and is at the top of the Davis Mountains. The party started about 8pm. This is where the "Stars at night are big and bright".
The observatory should definitely be on your bucket list. The drive is pretty during the day as well as at sunset. At the party, they had telescopes set up for everyone to take a look. We saw the moon, Mars, Jupiter, the Orion nebula and Pleiades, aka the seven sisters (and the symbol on the Subaru car).
The moon was bright enough to see without the telescope. Then one of the astronomers used a laser pointer and gave us a "tour of the galaxy" by pointing out the various constellations. It was amazing.
Fort Davis is a remote town at the foot of the Davis Mountains. If you want a Big Mac, you have to drive the 30 miles to Alpine. The nearest Starbucks is in Pecos 75 miles away! They do have a grocery store called Lowes Market as well as a mom and pop store called the Stone Village Market where you can also get a great sandwich.
In 2020, there were about 1,000 people living there. Tourism is their main source of revenue so if you're in the area, stop and visit! It's well worth it.
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