Jeff Davis County, Texas

                 

Photos

Taken around Fort Davis by Pat Hartnell in March of 2006.  Thanks Pat for all your hard work.

Fort Davis Courthouse

Jefferson Davis Historical Marker at Courthouse

Old Overland Trail Museum

Old Post Office

The building was the post office in Fort Davis during the 1920s.

Old School House

Built in 1904, the spacious adobe building served as the schoolhouse for Fort Davis's children until the 1930s. The irrigation pump house in back of the inn was originally the girls' outhouse. A neighbor recalls helping his father plant the pecan orchard, which is now such a prominent feature, when his family purchased the entire block in the 1930s.  Over the century, the building has gone through several renovations, including the addition and removal of different wings. The most recent renovations have brought the historic structure up to date with completely modern electrical and plumbing systems. But the 22-inch-thick adobe walls, bead board paneling, and ceiling-high windows still convey the traditional beauty and soundness of the original construction. In addition to being a schoolhouse, the structure has served as an apartment building and as a private home for several different owners. But through all of these various incarnations, it has always been known as The Schoolhouse.

 

The Town Square:  On January 8, 1931 a monument was erected in the center of the town square.  It's inscriptions reads, "Jefferson Davis Highway #3 erected by Texas Division of Daughters of the Confederacy."  A fence was built around the monument soon after.

Old Masonic Lodge on the right

The first Masonic Lodge No. 596 was started by S.R. Miller in the early 1880s.  It was organized under the sponsorship of the El Paso Masonic Lodge No. 130 and received its official charter on December 23, 1884.  Charter members included C.L. Nevill, George A. Brenner, W.W. Hull, F.W. Colby, John G. Davis, John D. Davis, Samuel R. Miller, B. Kantz and P.H. Pruett.  Later others such as W.S. Lempert, James Edwards, A.J. Wedel, Jerome Williams, Edward Hartnett, Henry Blat, A. McAfee, and Charles Bunte became masons.  When the county seat of Presidio County was moved from Fort Davis to Marfa, this caused some to feel that the Fort Davis Masonic Lodge should be moved to Marfa also.  After a vote was taken with the decision being made to move the lodge to Marfa, a new Fort Davis Masonic Lodge was formed, No. 896.  Members of the new lodge included Charles Mulhern, Dr. W.T. Jones, J.P. Weatherby, S.A. Thompson, Keith Wallace, Willis McCutcheon, B.B. McCutcheion, H.A. King, John Z. Means, C.O. Finley and P.H. Pruett.  The building in the right of the picture was purchased by Lodge No. 896 in 1929.  Meetings were held in the added second story, the first story being rented out to various businesses including Fort Davis' first public library.  The building had been bought from Mr. & Mrs. E.H. Carlton who had a store there at one time.

Limpa Hotel and Town Square

Visitors to Fort Davis in 1884 found a hotel quite different from The Hotel Limpia as it stands today.   The original structure, opened on May 31, 1884 by James Kebbee, was built of red brick and located in what was and is still called New Town, just outside the Old Fort Davis grounds.  When the Old Fort (a post-Civil War outpost, now Fort Davis National Historic Site) was abandoned, the town of Fort Davis almost closed down and the original "Limpia Hotel" became a private residence during the 1890's.  In mid-1912 the Union Trading Company, which was owned by local stockholders J.W. Espy, J.P. Weatherby, and Nick Mersfelder, purchased land from Daniel Murphy for a building site for a new hotel.  Murphy had acquired the land from Pedro Guano, who had been deeded the land in return for service in the Army of the Republic of Texas.  Construction of the hotel began the same year under the direction of Campbell and Bance Contractors. Both The Hotel Limpia and the Fort Davis State Bank were built by Campbell and Bance.


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