City in Texas, United States
Marfa
is a city in the high desert of the
Trans-Pecos
in far
West Texas
, United States, between the
Davis Mountains
and
Big Bend National Park
, at an elevation of 4685 feet. It is the
county seat
of
Presidio County
, and its population as of the 2020 United States Census was 1,788. The city was founded in the early 1880s as a
water stop
; the population peaked in the 1930s and has continued to decline each decade since. However, today Marfa is a tourist destination and a major center for
minimalist art
. Attractions include
Building 98
, the
Chinati Foundation
, artisan shops, historical architecture, a classic Texas town square, modern art installments, art galleries, and the
Marfa lights
.
History
[
edit
]
Marfa was founded in the early 1880s as a
railroad water stop
. The town was named "Marfa" (Russian for "Martha") at the suggestion of the wife of a railroad executive. Although some historians have hypothesized that the name came from a character in
Fyodor Dostoevsky
's novel
The Brothers Karamazov
,
[5]
Marfa was actually named after Marfa Strogoff, a character in
Jules Verne
's novel
Michael Strogoff
.
[6]
[7]
According to Sterry Butcher of the
Texas Monthly
, a writer researched the Karamazov story and deemed it false, but did not receive any letters to the editor after he submitted the story to the newspaper, and therefore "No one cared. The story we had suited Marfa just fine."
[8]
The town grew quickly during the 1920s.
[9]
The Marfa Army Air Field served as a training facility for several thousand pilots during World War II, including the American actor
Robert Sterling
, before closing in 1945. The base was also used as the training ground for many of the United States Army's
chemical mortar battalions
.
Marfa experienced economic issues after the war ended and after a
drought
impaired agricultural output. Artist
Donald Judd
arrived in 1973 and began buying properties to renovate, which resulted in
bohemian
interest in the community.
[10]
In 2012
Vanity Fair
described it as a "playground" for "art-world pioneers and pilgrims".
[11]
Marfa is about 60 miles from the Mexico-U.S. border.
Geography
[
edit
]
Marfa is in northeastern Presidio County within the
Chihuahuan Desert
. The town is approximately 20 miles south of
Fort Davis
on
Texas Route 17
and about 18 miles west of
Alpine
on
US Route 67
.
[12]
According to the
United States Census Bureau
, the town has a total area of 1.6 sq mi (4.1 km
2
), all land.
Climate
[
edit
]
Marfa experiences a
semi-arid climate
(
BSk
) with hot summers and cool winters. Due to its elevation and aridity, the
diurnal temperature variation
is substantial.
Climate data for Marfa #2, Texas. (Elevation 4,790ft)
|
Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
Record high °F (°C)
|
81
(27)
|
86
(30)
|
90
(32)
|
96
(36)
|
102
(39)
|
106
(41)
|
103
(39)
|
104
(40)
|
100
(38)
|
95
(35)
|
86
(30)
|
79
(26)
|
106
(41)
|
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)
|
60.2
(15.7)
|
63.9
(17.7)
|
71.2
(21.8)
|
78.8
(26.0)
|
85.8
(29.9)
|
91.2
(32.9)
|
89.6
(32.0)
|
87.5
(30.8)
|
83.6
(28.7)
|
77.3
(25.2)
|
67.6
(19.8)
|
60.8
(16.0)
|
76.5
(24.7)
|
Daily mean °F (°C)
|
42.9
(6.1)
|
46.0
(7.8)
|
52.3
(11.3)
|
60.1
(15.6)
|
67.9
(19.9)
|
74.4
(23.6)
|
74.9
(23.8)
|
73.3
(22.9)
|
68.7
(20.4)
|
60.7
(15.9)
|
50.5
(10.3)
|
43.7
(6.5)
|
59.6
(15.3)
|
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)
|
25.7
(?3.5)
|
28.1
(?2.2)
|
33.5
(0.8)
|
41.4
(5.2)
|
50.1
(10.1)
|
57.6
(14.2)
|
60.2
(15.7)
|
59.1
(15.1)
|
54.0
(12.2)
|
44.1
(6.7)
|
33.4
(0.8)
|
26.6
(?3.0)
|
42.8
(6.0)
|
Record low °F (°C)
|
?2
(?19)
|
0
(?18)
|
6
(?14)
|
17
(?8)
|
27
(?3)
|
39
(4)
|
53
(12)
|
50
(10)
|
36
(2)
|
16
(?9)
|
?1
(?18)
|
2
(?17)
|
?2
(?19)
|
Average
precipitation
inches (mm)
|
0.42
(11)
|
0.47
(12)
|
0.31
(7.9)
|
0.59
(15)
|
1.17
(30)
|
1.78
(45)
|
2.73
(69)
|
2.89
(73)
|
2.57
(65)
|
1.39
(35)
|
0.58
(15)
|
0.50
(13)
|
15.41
(391)
|
Average snowfall inches (cm)
|
0.7
(1.8)
|
0.6
(1.5)
|
0.1
(0.25)
|
0.0
(0.0)
|
0.0
(0.0)
|
0.0
(0.0)
|
0.0
(0.0)
|
0.0
(0.0)
|
0.0
(0.0)
|
0.0
(0.0)
|
0.4
(1.0)
|
0.4
(1.0)
|
2.2
(5.6)
|
Average precipitation days
(≥ 0.01 in)
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
5
|
7
|
9
|
10
|
8
|
5
|
3
|
3
|
59
|
Source:
Western Regional Climate Center
,
Desert Research Institute
[13]
|
Demographics
[
edit
]
Historical population
Census
| Pop.
| Note
| %±
|
1920
| 3,553
| | ?
|
---|
1930
| 3,909
| | 10.0%
|
---|
1940
| 3,805
| | ?2.7%
|
---|
1950
| 3,603
| | ?5.3%
|
---|
1960
| 2,799
| | ?22.3%
|
---|
1970
| 2,647
| | ?5.4%
|
---|
1980
| 2,466
| | ?6.8%
|
---|
1990
| 2,424
| | ?1.7%
|
---|
2000
| 2,121
| | ?12.5%
|
---|
2010
| 1,981
| | ?6.6%
|
---|
2020
| 1,788
| | ?9.7%
|
---|
2020 census
[
edit
]
As of the
2020 United States census
, there were 1,788 people, 802 households, and 300 families residing in the city.
2010 census
[
edit
]
As of the
2010 United States Census
, 1,981 people, 864 households, and 555 families resided in the city.
[4]
The population density was 1,354 inhabitants per square mile (523/km
2
). The 1,126 housing units averaged 719.1 per square mile (276.9/km
2
). The
racial makeup
of the city was 30% White, 0.4% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 7.50% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 68.7% of the population. Of 863 households, 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 13.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were not families. About 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.99. The age distribution of the population shows 24.9% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $24,712, and for a family was $32,328. Males had a median income of $25,804 versus $18,382 for females. The
per capita income
for the city was $14,636. About 15.7% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the
poverty line
, including 24.6% of those under age 18 and 26.9% of those age 65 or over.
Arts and culture
[
edit
]
The area around Marfa is known as a cultural center for contemporary artists and artisans. In 1971,
Minimalist
artist
Donald Judd
moved to Marfa from New York. After renting summer houses for a few years, he bought two large hangars and some smaller buildings and began to install his art permanently. This had started with his building in New York but the buildings in Marfa allowed him to install his works on a larger scale. In 1976, he bought the first of two ranches that became his primary places of residence, continuing a long love affair with the desert landscape surrounding Marfa. Later, with assistance from the Dia Art Foundation in New York, Judd acquired decommissioned
Fort D.A. Russell
, and in 1979 began transforming the fort's buildings into art spaces. Judd's vision was to house large collections of individual artists' work on permanent display, as a sort of antimuseum. Judd believed the prevailing model of many
museums
, where various art exhibits are shown for limited times, does not allow the viewer an understanding of the artist or their work as they had intended.
Following Judd's death in 1994, two foundations have worked to maintain his legacy: the
Chinati Foundation
and
Judd Foundation
. Since its inauguration in 1986, Chinati has held an open-house event that attracts visitors from around the world to visit Marfa's art.
[18]
Between 1997 and 2008, both foundations cosponsored this event. The Chinati Foundation now occupies more than 30 buildings in Marfa and has permanently displayed work by 13 artists.
[19]
In recent years, a new wave of artists has moved to Marfa to live and work. As a result, new gallery spaces have opened in the downtown area. The Crowley Theater and its annex host public events with seating for over 175 as a public service to nonprofit foundations. Furthermore, The
Lannan Foundation
has established a writers-in-residency program, a Marfa theater group has formed, and a multifunctional art space called Ballroom Marfa has begun to show art films, host musical performances, and exhibit other art installations. The city is also 37 miles (60 km) from
Prada Marfa
, a pop art exhibit, and is home to
Cobra Rock Boot Company
and The Wrong Store.
Marfa Myths, an annual music festival and multidisciplinary cultural program, was founded in 2014 by the nonprofit contemporary arts foundation Ballroom Marfa and Brooklyn-based music label
Mexican Summer
. The festival brings together a diversity of emerging and established artists and musicians to work creatively and collaboratively across music, film, and visual arts contexts. The festival is inherently embedded in the landscape of Far West Texas and deeply engaged with Marfa's cultural history and present-day community.
Building 98
, also located in Marfa, is a project of the International Woman's Foundation, which has operated an artist-in-residency program since 2002. The International Woman's Foundation was responsible for placing Fort D.A. Russell on the National Register of Historic Places as an effort to preserve the historic importance of the site.
[20]
The facility's studio galleries host artists who desire to exhibit work in the region at a premier venue. In late September 2012 through early April 2013, the foundation held a major retrospective of the works of
Wilhelmina Weber Furlong
at Building 98 featuring over 75 unseen works of the early American woman modernist. Building 98 is located at historic Fort D. A. Russell; it is the home of Marfa's German POW murals.
[21]
[22]
The facility also features the
George Sugarman
sculpture courtyard.
[20]
Marfa lights
[
edit
]
Apart from Donald Judd and modern art, Marfa may be most famous for the
Marfa lights
, visible on clear nights between Marfa and the Paisano Pass when one is facing southwest (toward the Chinati Mountains). According to the
Handbook of Texas Online
, "at times they appear colored as they twinkle in the distance. They move about, split apart, melt together, disappear, and reappear. Presidio County residents have watched the lights for over a hundred years." The first historical record of them dates to 1883.
[23]
Presidio County has built a viewing station 9 miles east of town on US 67 near the site of the old air base. Each year, enthusiasts gather for the annual Marfa Lights Festival. The lights have been featured and mentioned in various media, including the television show
Unsolved Mysteries
and an episode of
King of the Hill
(
"Of Mice and Little Green Men"
) and in an episode of the Disney Channel Original Series
So Weird
. A book by
David Morrell
, 2009's
The Shimmer
, was inspired by the lights. The Rolling Stones mention the "lights of Marfa" in the song "
No Spare Parts
" from the 2011 re-release of their 1978 album
Some Girls
.
In popular culture
[
edit
]
Various movie productions have filmed in and around parts of Marfa. The 1950 film
High Lonesome
and the 1956
Warner Bros.
film
Giant
were filmed in Marfa.
[
citation needed
]
In August 2006, two films were partially shot in Marfa:
There Will Be Blood
and
No Country for Old Men
.
[24]
[25]
Larry Clark
's 2012 film
Marfa Girl
was filmed exclusively in Marfa.
[26]
Also,
Far Marfa
, written and directed by Cory Van Dyke, made its debut in 2012.
[27]
Morley Safer
presented a
60 Minutes
segment in on August 4, 2013, titled "Marfa, Texas, the Capital of Quirkiness."
[28]
In 2017, Marfa was featured as the setting of the Amazon series
I Love Dick
,
an adaptation of
Chris Kraus
's 1997 novel, which was set in
Pasadena, California
.
[29]
[30]
[31]
Marfa is featured in the 2019
Simpsons
episode "
Mad About the Toy
."
[32]
"Marfa" is the eighth track on Texas
symphonic rock
band
Mother Falcon
's second studio album,
You Knew
.
[33]
It is also the name of songs by
Wildcat! Wildcat!
,
S. Carey
, and
Paul Cauthen
("Marfa Lights").
[34]
[35]
[36]
Marfa is featured in
Ben Lerner
's 2014 novel
10:04
.
[37]
Media
[
edit
]
Marfa is home to
National Public Radio
-affiliated station
KRTS
.
Marfa houses the offices of the
Big Bend Sentinel
, serving Marfa, and
International
/
Internacional
, serving Presidio, in one building.
[38]
The former is a weekly newspaper covering the areas of Marfa, Fort Davis, Presidio, and far West Texas.
Marfa Magazine
is a yearly publication distributed from Marfa, founded and operated by Johnny Calderon Jr. It focuses on issues and general information about Marfa, Alpine, and Fort Davis.
[
citation needed
]
Infrastructure
[
edit
]
On October 1, 2009, the city council voted to no longer have a local police department. At the time, the Presidio County Sheriff's Department and Texas Highway Patrol provided law enforcement for the city, as well as the county as a whole. As of 2019, however, the Marfa Police Department has been re-established, and five officers, including a chief and lieutenant, oversee law enforcement within the city limits.
Education
[
edit
]
Marfa is served by the
Marfa Independent School District
. Within it, Marfa Elementary School and Marfa Junior/Senior High School serve the city.
Hispanic students attended the segregated
Blackwell School
from 1909 to 1965. The school was authorized to be a
National Historic Site
in 2022.
[39]
Marfa International School,
[40]
a private school, opened in 2012,
[
citation needed
]
serving students in grades 1?8, with scholarships available based on need.
[
citation needed
]
However, it closed in 2016.
[41]
Presidio County is within the
Odessa College District
for community college.
[42]
Public library
[
edit
]
Marfa and the surrounding area are served by the Marfa Public Library, which houses a diverse collection in a variety of formats. The library began in 1947 when the Marfa Lions Club and the Marfa Study Club agreed to establish a library for the citizens of the area.
[43]
The library was originally housed in the historic U.S.O. building, but was moved to a city-owned building after the city took over the project. After meeting the requirements of the
Texas State Library
, it became a member of the Texas Trans-Pecos Library System.
[43]
The present library building was donated to the City of Marfa in 1973 by the first chairperson, Laura Bailey, and her husband Bishop.
[43]
Future expansions and renovations to the current building are also planned.
Transportation
[
edit
]
Presidio County operates the
Marfa Municipal Airport
, located north of the city in unincorporated Presidio County.
Commercial air service is available at either
Midland International Airport
or
El Paso International Airport
.
[44]
The airports are, respectively, 180 mi (290 km) northeast, and 190 mi (310 km) northwest.
[
citation needed
]
Greyhound Lines
operates an intercity bus service from the
Western Union
office.
[45]
Amtrak
's
Sunset Limited
, which operates between
New Orleans
and
Los Angeles
three days a week, passes through the city, but does not stop; the
nearest station
is located in
Alpine
, 26 mi (42 km) northeast.
Highways
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Marfa"
.
Geographic Names Information System
.
United States Geological Survey
,
United States Department of the Interior
.
- ^
"Cities: Marfa - Texas State Directory Online"
.
www.txdirectory.com
.
- ^
"2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files"
. United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
August 7,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"U.S. Census website"
.
United States Census Bureau
. Retrieved
January 31,
2008
.
- ^
"
Wilson, Thomas (2001).
"How Marfa, Texas Got Its Name"
.
Journal of Big Bend Studies
.
Sul Ross State University
.
Archived
from the original on November 21, 2008
. Retrieved
September 11,
2012
.
- ^
Popik, Barry
(October 3, 2008).
"Marfa (summary)"
. Archived from
the original
on January 16, 2013
. Retrieved
May 5,
2013
.
- ^
"Marfa"
.
The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
.
48
: 295. 1944.
ISSN
0038-478X
.
LCCN
12-20299
.
OCLC
1766223
. Retrieved
May 5,
2013
.
- ^
Butcher, Sterry (December 2017).
"The Marfa Mystique"
.
Texas Monthly
. Retrieved
May 26,
2022
.
- ^
"Presidio County, Texas Genealogy"
.
FamilySearch
. September 16, 2022.
- ^
Swartz, Mimi (January 22, 2020).
"A Battle for the Soul of Marfa"
.
Texas Monthly
. Retrieved
May 26,
2022
.
- ^
Wilsey, Sean; Beal, Daphne (July 2012).
"Lone Star Bohemia"
.
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
May 26,
2022
.
- ^
Texas Atlas & Gazeteer, DeLorme, 4th edition, 2001, p. 63
ISBN
0-89933-320-6
- ^
"MARFA 2, TEXAS (415596), Period of Record Monthly Climate Summary"
. Western Regional Climate Center, Desert Research Institute
. Retrieved
March 26,
2016
.
- ^
"Census of Population and Housing"
. Census.gov
. Retrieved
June 4,
2015
.
- ^
"Explore Census Data"
.
data.census.gov
. Retrieved
May 19,
2022
.
- ^
https://www.census.gov/
[
not specific enough to verify
]
- ^
"About the Hispanic Population and its Origin"
.
www.census.gov
. Retrieved
May 18,
2022
.
- ^
"Open House 1995 and 1996"
(PDF)
.
The Chinati Foundation Newsletter
(in English and Spanish). Vol. 2. Marfa, TX: The Chinati Foundation. 1996. p. 23.
ISSN
1083-5555
.
- ^
"The Chinati Foundation Collection"
.
The Chinati Foundation
. Retrieved
June 25,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"Fort D. A. Russell"
.
National Historic Landmark summary listing
. National Park Service. Archived from
the original
on July 25, 2008
. Retrieved
December 14,
2006
.
- ^
"Marfa Public Radio"
.
Talk at 10 interview
. Kay Burnet Studios
. Retrieved
June 19,
2012
.
- ^
The Biography of Wilhelmina Weber Furlong: The Treasured Collection of Golden Heart Farm by Clint B. Weber,
ISBN
978-0-9851601-0-4
- ^
"
Marfa lights
."
Handbook of Texas
.
- ^
Whitney Joiner, "Postcard: Marfa. A far-flung Texas town stars in two of this year's Oscar-nominated films. Yet a proposed truck route could end its precious seclusion. The battle to stay off the beaten path",
TIME
171.8 (February 25, 2008): 6.
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1713476,00.html
- ^
Marfa (pop 2,400), the desert town that will be the star of the
Oscars
Daily Telegraph
article by Catherine Elsworth in Issue 47,499 dated 21 February 2008
- ^
"Five Questions with Marfa Girl Director Larry Clark"
.
Filmmaker Magazine
. November 14, 2012
. Retrieved
November 21,
2012
.
- ^
"
'Far Marfa' Captures the Romance of West Texas Outpost"
.
- ^
"Marfa, Texas: The capital of quirkiness"
.
CBS News
.
- ^
"What Does the New Show I Love Dick Say About Marfa?"
.
Texas Monthly
. August 26, 2016
. Retrieved
May 14,
2019
.
- ^
Ro, Lauren (May 15, 2017).
"
'I Love Dick' TV adaptation takes the action to Marfa"
.
Curbed
. Retrieved
May 14,
2019
.
- ^
Andreeva, Nellie (February 18, 2016).
"Amazon Orders 'I Love Dick' Comedy Pilot From Jill Soloway"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
May 14,
2019
.
- ^
Dan Solomon (January 8, 2019).
"Marfa Is Now Such a Stereotype They Can Mock It on 'The Simpsons'
"
.
Texas Monthly
.
- ^
"An Interview With Chamber Rockers Mother Falcon"
.
KRTS 93.5 FM Marfa Public Radio
. Retrieved
July 4,
2020
.
- ^
Carroll, Jim.
"Wildcat! Wildcat!: No Moon at All"
.
The Irish Times
. Retrieved
July 4,
2020
.
- ^
"S. Carey: Hoyas EP"
.
Pitchfork
. Retrieved
July 4,
2020
.
- ^
"VICE - The Gospel According to Paul Cauthen"
.
www.vice.com
. Retrieved
July 4,
2020
.
- ^
Witt, Emily (January 3, 2015).
"Ben Lerner: 'People say, "Oh, here's another Brooklyn novel by a guy with glasses"'
"
.
the Guardian
. Retrieved
November 28,
2020
.
- ^
Butcher, Sterry (October 2019).
"Long Live the 'Big Bend Sentinel.' Viva 'El Internacional.'
"
.
Texas Monthly
. Retrieved
May 26,
2022
.
- ^
"President Biden Designates Blackwell School National Historic Site as America's Newest National Park"
.
US Department of the Interior
. October 18, 2022
. Retrieved
October 23,
2022
.
- ^
"Marfa International School - Marfa, Texas"
.
www.marfais.org
. Archived from
the original
on August 23, 2014
. Retrieved
January 11,
2022
.
- ^
"Marfa International School :: Dixon Water Foundation"
.
- ^
"Texas Education Code Sec. 130.193. ODESSA COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA"
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Who We Are"
. Marfa Public Library
. Retrieved
April 11,
2015
.
- ^
Lawlor, Julia (April 29, 2005).
"The Great Marfa ... Land Boom"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
May 26,
2022
.
- ^
"
Marfa, Texas
[
permanent dead link
]
."
Greyhound Lines
.
- ^
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
[16]
[17]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for
Marfa
.
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