Marfa Stockyards
Marfa vicinity, Presidio County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built in 1920 by the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railway company, the Marfa stockyards provided a central shipping point for livestock raised in Presidio, Jeff Davis, and Brewster counties. As many as 70,000 head of cattle were shipped from these pens in a single year. The facilities were enlarged in 1929 to handle the great volume of business. By the 1930s sheep and goats were also being shipped from here. Although business declined after the introduction of trucking to the area, the stockyards are still used to weigh animals prior to shipment. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the railroad reached the high desert of far West Texas, the Marfa stockyards opened in 1920 as the central shipping point for cattle raised across Presidio, Jeff Davis, and Brewster counties. In a boom year as many as 70,000 head passed through these pens, and by the 1930s sheep and goats rode the rails out too — until trucking gradually took the trade away.
Why it matters
It marks how the railroad turned the remote Big Bend country into part of a national livestock economy, the shipping hub around which ranching life in the region revolved.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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