Barstow

Overview

An irrigation town on the Pecos

Barstow was a land promoter's town. The Texas and Pacific Railway reached the spot in 1881. Ten years later a townsite was laid out, and George E. Barstow, a Rhode Island land promoter, set about selling farms watered from the Pecos River. He dug canals, built a dam and brought would-be settlers in by the trainload. When Ward County was organized in 1892, Barstow became its seat, and a red sandstone courthouse went up the next year.

For a few years it worked. Farmers grew grapes, peaches, pears and melons, and Barstow grapes won a silver medal at the 1904 World's Fair. That same year the earthen dam burst in a flood, and the floodwater left salt in the soil. Droughts followed in 1907 and 1910, the orchards and vineyards failed, and by 1918 farming had stopped. In 1938, after oil was found in Winkler County and eastern Ward County, Monahans took the county seat.

Barstow never emptied completely. It is still an incorporated town, with 265 people in 2020, down from 1,219 at its peak. The courthouse is gone. A 1985 state marker stands on its site and says all that remains is a cornerstone.

Timeline

Boom, flood and drought

1. 1881The Texas and Pacific Railway reaches the site on the Pecos River.
2. 1891The townsite is laid out and a post office opens. The town's founder is George E. Barstow, a Rhode Island land promoter.
3. 1892Ward County is organized with Barstow as its seat. The Barstow Improvement Company builds canals and a dam to sell irrigated land.
4. 1893A three-story red sandstone courthouse with a domed cupola is built.
5. 1900The Handbook of Texas puts the population at 1,103. Its linked Texas Almanac table gives 150.
6. 1904Barstow grapes win a silver medal at the St. Louis World's Fair. The same year an earthen dam on the flooded Pecos bursts, and salt from the floodwater ruins many farms.
7. 1907, 1910Two serious droughts.
8. 1910The population reaches 1,219.
9. 1911–1918The vineyards and orchards fail. By 1918 farming has stopped.
10. 1930The census counts 468.
11. Jun 1938After oil finds in Winkler County and eastern Ward County, Monahans takes the county seat. The courthouse is later torn down.
12. 2020The census counts 265 people.

Record and claims

Where the sources differ

When the courthouse came down. The 1985 state historical marker says the courthouse was razed soon after the county seat moved in 1938. Texas Escapes says it was razed in the 1950s.

Population in 1900. The Handbook of Texas narrative gives 1,103 for 1900, and Wikipedia says the town passed 1,000. The Texas Almanac figures linked from the Handbook give 150 for the same year. We use the narrative figure.

What's left

Around town

The 1985 marker for the first Ward County courthouse stands at Mackey Avenue and FM 873. It says all that remains of the courthouse is a cornerstone. Texas Escapes photographs, mostly from 2009, show the 1901 Ward County Bank, a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, the former county jail, Presbyterian, Catholic and Baptist churches, a Masonic lodge, a former post office, a closed school and old gas stations. In 2020, about one in five of the town's 126 housing units stood empty.

We haven't confirmed the current condition of these buildings. They're privately owned, so look from the street.

The historic maps below tell the irrigation story. The 1931 sheet shows Barstow on the Texas and Pacific line and State Highway No. 1. The 1986 sheet shows the main canal and its numbered laterals around the town, with the Pecos River to the south.

• Courthouse marker and cornerstone
• Ward County Bank (1901)
• Former county jail
• Churches
• Closed school
• Water tower

Historic maps

Barstow on USGS maps, 1931–1986

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19311:125,00019541:250,00019631:24,00019861:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Pecos is the nearest city, ten minutes west on Business I-20, the old US 80. From Odessa it's about an hour and ten minutes west on I-20. Both routes end on Mackey Avenue, FM 516, in the middle of town.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Barstow in photos

The city limit sign on Business I-20 and the water tower, July 2014

Visitor reports

Been to Barstow?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Barstow

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Texas index.

• Pyote16.7 mi E · Ward
• Porterville20.3 mi NW · Loving
• Mentone20.6 mi NW · Loving
• Woody20.9 mi N · Loving
• Toyah25.6 mi SW · Reeves
• Hay Flat30.9 mi N · Winkler
• Orla39.2 mi NW · Reeves
• Madera Springs53.2 mi SW · Jeff Davis

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Barstow": fact sheet fields (climate, best time, population figures).
2. Handbook of Texas, TSHA, "Barstow, TX": railroad, founding, post office, county seat, irrigation company, canals, dam and settler trains, courthouse, crops, 1904 medal and dam failure, droughts, end of farming, 1938 county seat move, population figures.
3. Wikipedia, "Barstow, Texas", retrieved October 2026: 1904 World's Fair, population over 1,000 by 1900, 2020 census, housing units.
4. Texas Historical Commission, Atlas, "Site of First Ward County Courthouse": 1985 marker, three-story courthouse with cupola, razing after 1938, cornerstone, location.
5. Texas Escapes, "Barstow, Texas": surviving buildings (photos 2002–2018), 1950s razing date.
6. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The city limit sign on Business I-20 and the water tower, July 2014: Nicolas Henderson from Coppell, Texas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
• Area base map, topo and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Barstow 1931, 1:125,000; Pecos 1954, 1:250,000; Pecos East 1963, 1:24,000; Pecos 1986, 1:100,000.