Van Horn, Texas | |
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![]() The main road through Van Horn (2006) | |
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Coordinates: 31°2′33″N104°49′59″W / 31.04250°N 104.83306°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
County | Culberson |
Area | |
• Total | 2.84 sq mi (7.35 km2) |
• Land | 2.84 sq mi (7.35 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Elevation | 4,042 ft (1,232 m) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 1,941 |
• Density | 683.45/sq mi (264.08/km2) |
Time zone | UTC−6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
ZIP Code | 79855 |
Area code | 432 |
FIPS code | 48-75032 [2] |
GNIS feature ID | 1370571 [3] |
Website | Official website |
Van Horn is a town in and the seat of Culberson County, Texas, United States. [4] According to the 2010 census, Van Horn had a population of 2,063, [5] down from 2,435 at the 2000 census. The 2020 census results detailed a decline in population to 1,941. Van Horn's official newspaper is The Van Horn Advocate. The town is the westernmost incorporated community in the United States that uses the Central Time Zone, located on the same line of longitude as Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Its earliest sunset in the beginning of December is the latest among incorporated towns in the United States, occurring no earlier than 5:56 pm. [6]
Anglo-Texan [7] settlement began in the late 1850s and early 1860s supportive of the San Antonio-El Paso Overland Mail route. [8] Although U.S. Army Major Jefferson Van Horne is believed to have passed near the area in 1849 on his way to take command of what would later become Fort Bliss, the town is instead named for Lt. James Judson Van Horn who commanded an army garrison at the Van Horn Wells beginning in 1859. Lt. Van Horn's command was relatively short-lived, as the post was seized by Confederate forces in 1861 and Lt. Van Horn taken prisoner. [9] Settlement was further stimulated by the construction of the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881. [10] [11] [12] The town has several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places including the First Presbyterian Church (now Primera Iglesia Bautista), built in 1901.
Van Horn is located in southwestern Culberson County at 31°2′33″N104°49′59″W / 31.04250°N 104.83306°W (31.042489, –104.832928). [13] Interstate 10 passes through the town, leading east 120 miles (190 km) to Fort Stockton and northwest 118 miles (190 km) to El Paso. Van Horn is the western terminus of U.S. Route 90; from Van Horn it leads southeast 73 miles (117 km) to Marfa. Texas State Highway 54 leads north from Van Horn 65 miles (105 km) to Pine Springs and the Guadalupe Mountains.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.8 square miles (7.3 km2), all land. [5] Threemile Peak, elevation 4,868 feet (1,484 m), rises to the northwest overlooking the town.
Climate data for Van Horn, Texas (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1942–present) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °F (°C) | 80 (27) | 88 (31) | 94 (34) | 100 (38) | 105 (41) | 112 (44) | 108 (42) | 108 (42) | 104 (40) | 98 (37) | 87 (31) | 82 (28) | 112 (44) |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 59.1 (15.1) | 64.2 (17.9) | 71.6 (22.0) | 78.8 (26.0) | 86.6 (30.3) | 94.5 (34.7) | 92.9 (33.8) | 91.9 (33.3) | 85.9 (29.9) | 78.7 (25.9) | 68.1 (20.1) | 59.2 (15.1) | 77.6 (25.3) |
Daily mean °F (°C) | 44.6 (7.0) | 49.0 (9.4) | 56.1 (13.4) | 63.4 (17.4) | 71.9 (22.2) | 80.4 (26.9) | 80.6 (27.0) | 79.5 (26.4) | 73.3 (22.9) | 64.3 (17.9) | 53.2 (11.8) | 45.1 (7.3) | 63.4 (17.4) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 30.0 (−1.1) | 33.8 (1.0) | 40.6 (4.8) | 47.9 (8.8) | 57.3 (14.1) | 66.4 (19.1) | 68.3 (20.2) | 67.1 (19.5) | 60.6 (15.9) | 49.8 (9.9) | 38.3 (3.5) | 30.9 (−0.6) | 49.2 (9.6) |
Record low °F (°C) | −7 (−22) | −3 (−19) | 9 (−13) | 24 (−4) | 31 (−1) | 45 (7) | 53 (12) | 48 (9) | 33 (1) | 19 (−7) | 10 (−12) | 0 (−18) | −7 (−22) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.47 (12) | 0.44 (11) | 0.25 (6.4) | 0.22 (5.6) | 0.49 (12) | 1.10 (28) | 2.05 (52) | 1.95 (50) | 1.50 (38) | 0.94 (24) | 0.42 (11) | 0.49 (12) | 10.32 (262) |
Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.7 (1.8) | 0.6 (1.5) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.5 (1.3) | 1.2 (3.0) | 3.3 (8.4) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 2.8 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 4.4 | 7.5 | 7.8 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 46.9 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.4 |
Source: NOAA [14] [15] |
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1890 | 450 | — | |
1900 | 30 | −93.3% | |
1910 | 500 | 1,566.7% | |
1920 | 800 | 60.0% | |
1930 | 1,600 | 100.0% | |
1940 | 2,070 | 29.4% | |
1950 | 1,161 | −43.9% | |
1960 | 1,953 | 68.2% | |
1970 | 2,889 | 47.9% | |
1980 | 2,772 | −4.0% | |
1990 | 2,930 | 5.7% | |
2000 | 2,435 | −16.9% | |
2010 | 2,063 | −15.3% | |
2020 | 1,941 | −5.9% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [16] |
Race | Number | Percentage |
---|---|---|
White (NH) | 347 | 17.88% |
Black or African American (NH) | 14 | 0.72% |
Native American or Alaska Native (NH) | 11 | 0.57% |
Asian (NH) | 25 | 1.29% |
Some Other Race (NH) | 3 | 0.15% |
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH) | 33 | 1.7% |
Hispanic or Latino | 1,508 | 77.69% |
Total | 1,941 |
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 1,941 people, 607 households, and 339 families residing in the town.
As of the census [2] of 2000, 2,435 people, 834 households, and 652 families resided in the town. The population density was 846.9 inhabitants per square mile (327.0/km2). The 976 housing units averaged 339.5 per square mile (130.8/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 64.6% White, 0.7% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 31.5% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 78.6% of the population.
The United States Postal Service operates the Van Horn Post Office. [20]
Van Horn is served by the Culberson County-Allamoore Independent School District and is home to the Van Horn High School Eagles.
In late 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported that Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, had acquired 290,000 acres (1,200 km2) of land 25 miles (40 km) north of Van Horn, including the Figure 2 Ranch Airport, to house his fledgling space tourism company, Blue Origin. A 2006 article on Space.com reported that Blue Origin was expected to start commercial operations as early as 2010, aiming for 52 launches per year from the Van Horn facility. [21] This spaceport is named Corn Ranch.
In early 2010, NASA awarded Blue Origin US$3.7 million to work on an advanced technology, which detaches a crew cabin from its launcher if the shuttle malfunctions. [22]
An August 2016 update reported Blue Origin was still conducting test flights with plans to begin flying piloted tests in 2017 and paying customers in 2018. [23] [24] Blue Origin's actual first human launch from, and return to, Van Horn occurred on the morning of July 20, 2021, with a crew of four people. [25]
In 2009, the Van Horn Advocate announced that the Long Now Foundation was starting geologic testing for an underground space to house a 10,000-year Clock of the Long Now, on the Bezos ranch, north of Van Horn. [26]
Van Horn provided the inspiration for the 2019 song "Van Horn" by alternative-rock band Saint Motel which was featured on their EP The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 1 after the band spent a night there on a recent tour. [27]
Famed football coach John Madden put Chuy's Restaurant on the national map after a 1987 stop with his Madden Cruiser bus. [28]
Terrell County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 760, making it the seventh-least populous county in Texas, and the 37th-least populous county in the nation. Its county seat is the census-designated place of Sanderson; no incorporated municipalities are in the county. The county was named for Alexander W. Terrell, a Texas state senator. Terrell County is one of the nine counties in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. It is the setting for Cormac McCarthy's novel No Country for Old Men, and the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the same name.
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Hudspeth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,202. Its county seat is Sierra Blanca, and the largest community is Fort Hancock. The county is named for Claude Benton Hudspeth, a state senator and United States Representative from El Paso. It is northeast of the Mexico–U.S. border.
Culberson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 2,188. The county seat is Van Horn. Culberson County was founded in 1911 and organized the next year. It is named for David B. Culberson, a Confederate soldier and U.S. representative.
Brewster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in West Texas and its county seat is Alpine. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region, and borders Mexico. Brewster County is the largest county by area in the state - at 6,192 square miles (16,040 km2) it is over three times the size of the state of Delaware, and more than 500 square miles (1,300 km2) bigger than Connecticut.
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State Highway 54 is a 55.2-mile (88.8 km) highway maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that runs from Interstate 10 and U.S. Route 90 in Van Horn north to US 62 and US 180 between Salt Flat and Pine Springs near Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The route, located in western Culberson County, is largely isolated passing through no cities or towns beyond Van Horn and intersecting no other highways between Van Horn and its northern terminus. Within Van Horn, the route has intersections with Business Interstate 10-D and Farm to Market Road 2185.
Corn Ranch, commonly referred to as Launch Site One (LSO), is a spaceport owned and operated by Blue Origin which is located approximately 30 miles north of the town of Van Horn, Texas, United States.
Lobo is a ghost town in Culberson County, Texas, United States, that was abandoned in 1991.
Allamoore is a small, unincorporated community in Hudspeth County, Texas, United States. It is located just north of Interstate 10, approximately 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Sierra Blanca and 11 miles (18 km) west of Van Horn.
The Figure 2 Ranch is located in present-day Culberson County, Texas, founded in 1890 by James Monroe Daugherty, a cattle rancher who owned ranches in several states prior to this date. The site was the scene of one of the last battles between the Texas Rangers and the Apache Indians. Daugherty, a former express rider for the Confederate Army in the American Civil War and a founding member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association lived on the ranch by 1905 and would later serve on the local county commission for Culberson County after its founding in 1911. At the age of 83, Daugherty sold the ranch to ranching, timber, and oil tycoon James Marion West, Sr. in 1933. West never lived on the ranch, but his son James Jr. maintained a home there which he used as one of his many residences. The ranch remained in the West family until 1992. The Figure 2 Ranch Airport is located on the property. At its height, the ranch encompassed some 175,000 acres. The Figure 2 Ranch is now owned by Jeff Bezos, who is building a 10,000 year clock in part of the Sierra Diablo Mountains that lie on the ranch property. Part of the Figure 2 Ranch property serves as a Blue Origin test and launch facility.
The Sierra Diablo is a small mountain range in the US state of Texas, extending north and south along the border between Hudspeth and Culberson counties. It is in the Chihuahuan Desert, and is near Van Horn, Texas.