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BARSTOW,
TEXAS
Ward County, West
Texas
Once the Ward County Seat
Hwy 80 and FM 516
7 miles East of Pecos
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Mackey
Avenue Looking South from the courthouse, early 1900s
Photo courtesy texasoldphotos.com |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Barstow is one of the rare towns in Texas where the founder/ namesake
is buried in the local cemetery. George E. Barstow was an interesting
man who came to Texas from Rhode Island (via New York) and was one
of the leading world experts on irrigation.
The town was organized in 1892 and the courthouse built the following
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The
111 year-old School in Barstow
Photo courtesy Lane DeWitt, 2005 |
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The population
in 1900 was over a thousand people, due to recruiting efforts of Mr.
Barstow.
Irrigation was successful enough for Barstow to win a silver medal
for grapes at the 1904 World's Fair. 1904 was also the year
that fruit and vegetable farming received a nearly fatal blow when
the Pecos River dam broke. Droughts followed and by 1918, farming
was a memory.
The population in 1930 was 468 - less than half of the 1910's 1,219.
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The courthouse in Barstow as it appeared in the mid-thirties right
before the move to Monahans.
Photo courtesy TXDoT |
Ward
County Courthouse
The former courthouse built in 1893 was razed in the 1950s. The
red sandstone used for the courthouse was quarried locally and
was also used in the construction of the first bank in
Ward County. |
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R.
- Citizens State Bank in Barstow. Photo courtesy Lane DeWitt
L - The red sandstone Barstow Bank c.1907
Photo by Charlene Beatty Beauchamp |
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The
Barstow Skyline
Photo by Charlene Beatty Beauchamp |
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L
- Barstow High School stadium scoreboard
R - Barstow water tower
Photos by James Feagin, 3-2002 |
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Barstow
Texas Forum
Subject:
Barstow: Shocked and Saddened
My husband and I visited Barstow in September of 2007. We had read
about the history of this unique little place but words cannot match
the sorrow we felt when we were actually present [to see] the isolation.
We had purchased some "mystery acreage" and this visit was to discover
just what was what. This can't be America, to let a town die is
sad beyond belief. We spoke with "Jo" who had some connection with
the water co-op and she explained that the town did not even qualify
for any grants because they did not have a business that charged
sales tax. I guess I am to believe if you do not have some sort
of tax base you do not deserve any assistance to do anything. We
are surrendering our property, because of the limited water supply,
being told by more than one person that wells were 4,000 to 5,000
ft deep and didn't produce potable water. We would have to purchase
all water but that too was not available because the "town" could
not increase their request for more from Pecos.
[It was] mind altering. [We] did not think a place like this existed,
what could have gone wrong? There were not alot of wells working,
but I was told the drilling now was for natural gas. Will this product
have any influence on the outcome of this situation? Hope somebody
comes to the rescue of Barstow. - Norm & JoAnn Deckant, Tampa,
Florida, October 8, 2007
Book
Your Hotel Here & Save
Pecos
Hotels
More
Hotels
For a photo gallery of some of the more interesting tombstones in
the Barstow Cemetery, see www.rootsweb.com/~txward/barstow_cemetery_page_1.htm
TE wishes to thank Charlene Beatty Beauchamp, Webmaster and County
Coordinator for many West Texas Counties, for making this Barstow
Town Page possible.
© John Troesser
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