Fort Stockton is a city in and the county seat of Pecos County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 10, future Interstate 14, U.S. Highways 67, 285, and 385, and the Santa Fe Railroad, northwest of San Antonio and southeast of El Paso. Its population was 8,466 at the 2020 census.
History
thumb|left|Fort Stockton parade ground and barracks as seen from the guard house.
Fort Lancaster sent 1st Infantry Co. H "to take post" along Comanche Springs on 12 April 1859. Fort Stockton (named Camp Stockton until 1860) grew up around Comanche Springs, one of the largest sources of spring water in Texas. The fort was named for Robert F. Stockton. Comanche Springs was a favorite rest stop on the Great Comanche Trail to Chihuahua, San Antonio-El Paso Road, and the Butterfield Overland Mail route. On October 2, 1859, the well-known journalist and author (and future Union spy) Albert D. Richardson passed through Camp Stockton, which he described as "a military post of three or four edifices with pearly, misty mountains in the background."
In 1861, the fort was garrisoned by 39 men of Company C, 8th Infantry, under the command of Capt. Arthur Tracy Lee, who evacuated the fort by April. "Subposts or intermediate stations" also were used, including Bothwick's Station on Salt Creek between Fort Richardson and Fort Belknap, Camp Wichita near Buffalo Springs between Fort Richardson and Red River Station, and Mountain Pass between Fort Concho and Fort Griffin.
On 21 July 1867, Fort Stockton was reoccupied by Companies A, B, E, and K of the 9th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, buffalo soldiers under the command of General Edward Hatch, while a new fort was built one-half mile north of the first post, on the west side of the creek. Fort Stockton was eventually served by the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Fort Stockton is southwest of Midland International Airport. The town is within driving distance of the Big Bend country, including Big Bend National Park, , and the Big Bend Ranch State Park, , as well as the scenery of numerous day-drive locations in the area.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Fort Stockton had a population of 8,466 people, 2,915 households, and 2,014 families. The median age was 35.8 years, 25.0% of residents were under the age of 18, and 15.2% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 111.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 112.3 males age 18 and over.
90.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 9.2% lived in rural areas.
Of the 2,915 households, 36.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.8% were married-couple households, 19.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| White || 3,826 || 45.2%
|-
| Black or African American || 292 || 3.4%
|-
| American Indian and Alaska Native || 94 || 1.1%
|-
| Asian || 93 || 1.1%
|-
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 1 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 2,134 || 25.2%
|-
| Two or more races || 2,026 || 23.9%
|-
| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 6,476 || 76.5%
|}
2010 census
As of the census
|source 2 = National Weather Service
Area ranches
La Escalera Ranch consists of about , and is currently owned and managed by La Escalera Limited Partnership. The Fort Stockton Division of La Escalera Ranch consists of 223,000 contiguous acres in Pecos County and Brewster County, and stretches from U.S. Highway 285 to U.S. Highway 67. The Seymour division of La Escalera Ranch near Seymour, Texas, consists of 34,000 contiguous acres in Baylor County and Archer County.
For more than 100 years, Elsinore Cattle Company owned and operated the Elsinore Ranch ("LS Ranch") in Pecos County and Brewster Counties. In 1992, San Antonio building contractor Gerald Lyda purchased the ranch, expanded its size, and changed the name to La Escalera Ranch (Spanish for "the ladder").
The Fort Stockton division of the ranch is known for its desert mule deer, pronghorns, elk, Barbary sheep (aoudad), coyotes, bobcats, Rio Grande turkeys, and quail. The Seymour division is known for its white-tailed deer, dove, quail, turkeys, coyotes, and feral pigs.
The historic Comanche War Trail passes through the Fort Stockton division ranch and the internationally famous Sierra Madera crater is located on the east side of U. S. Route 385 near the entrance to the Fort Stockton division ranch headquarters.
La Escalera Ranch has been ranked by Texas Monthly, Worth, and The Land Report as one of the largest ranches in Texas.
Transportation
Intercity bus
Fort Stockton is served by All Aboard America!'s twice daily route between Midland International Air and Space Port and Presidio, with intermediate stops at Odessa, Crane, McCamey, Alpine, and Marfa.
Notable people
- Walter L. Buenger (born 1951), historian of Texas and the American South at Texas A&M University, was reared in Fort Stockton
- Terri Hoffman, Religious cult leader
- Gerald Lyda, Texas building contractor and owner of La Escalera Ranch
- Blaine McCallister, professional golfer
- Annie F. Riggs, Hotel Entrepreneur, Pioneer woman
References
Notes
External links
- The City of Fort Stockton
- The Fort Stockton Convention and Visitors Bureau
- Historic Fort Stockton
- Fort Stockton in the Handbook of Texas
- The Fort Stockton Pioneer