continued from page 9
With the completion of the
railroad, a growing pressure
developed for the early settlers in
Presidio County to relocate the
county seat to Marfa, a change
that took place in 1885. This
action spurred a movement to
create additional counties from
what was then all Presidio
County. Brewster County was
created by the 1887 legislature in
Austin on Feb. 2 and was organ-
ized on Feb. 26, 1887.
Centralized Murphysville was
selected as the county seat. The
name was changed to Alpine in
a called election.
There was movement by the
legislature to create three addi-
tional counties out of the
remaining area in Presidio
County. On March 15, 1887,
these counties were called Jeff
Davis, Buchel and Foley.
Haymond was the principal set-
tlement for Buchel County,
which was to be located between
the new Brewster County and
the established Pecos County to
the east. Foley County was to be
located south of Buchel County,
with the settlements of Boquillas
and the Rio Grande as its south-
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24
The new country was names
for Henry P. Brewster who had
been Sam Houston's private
secretary.
ern boundary. Fort Davis, the
previous county seat of Presidio
County, was the center of popu-
lation of the designated Jeff
Davis County and became the
new county’s seat. Marfa was
officially designated the county
seat for Presidio County on May
24, 1887.
Both Buchel and Foley coun-
ties were sparse in settlement
and were attached to Brewster
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2012
County for judicial and survey-
ing purposes on March 22,
1889. These two counties were
never organized and were aban-
doned by the legislature in 1897.
Their areas became a part of
Brewster County. This action
created the largest county in the
state of Texas, exceeding an
area of 6,000 square miles, larg-
er than some states in the United
States. Buchel and Foley coun-
ties are listed among the “Ghost
Counties of Texas.”
Brewster County has used
three structures for its court-
house. These are identified as
the original C.E. Way ware-
house located on Railroad
Avenue, on what is now Holland
Avenue. A construction contract
was signed between the county
and Tom Lovell on May 16,
1887 for the construction of a
courthouse and jail at Murphys-
ville, Brewster County, for the
sum of $27,000. The C.E. Way
structure caught on fire and
burned. On March 6, 1888, the
court selected as a temporary
courthouse space an adobe
structure located in the upstairs
space of the E.L. Gage house.
The construction work proceed-
ed well, and the county buildings
were completed on Sept. 8,
1888. Both of these structures
still serve the county as the cen-
tral seat of county government.
The jail serves as the sheriff ’s
offices, while the courthouse
functions as offices for various
county departments, including
the county and district courts.
Brewster County has operat-
ed with a county government
from Feb. 26, 1887 to the pres-
ent and celebrates its 125th
anniversary this year.