[SALocalcom]

I'm moving to Marfa, Tx for a couple years to supervise the restoration of a couple buildings....I was there over the weekend and took my cheap fuji digi....

http://www.salocal.com/images/marfa_rainbow.jpg

http://www.salocal.com/images/prairie_cloud.jpg

[UncleScooter]

Marfa is an up and coming yuppie hangout in Tx. There are people in Dallas, Houston and Austin buying up property in Marfa in big lots.
Buy a few acres of land there while it is cheap. It will be a good investment.

[SALocalcom]

The land there has already jumped up a great deal. They're even coming from NewYork.

[supertoddy]

Wow, beautiful pictures! Beautiful area!

popcorn

[andbeyond]

Looks nice.

But what is that name? "Marfa". Doesnt sound like english or spanish. Do you know the origin? Maybe a mix of something.

[SALocalcom]

I don't have a clue about the name, but the railroad created the town as a water stop....and the movie "Giant" was made there.

[UncleScooter]

Marfa is a tiny town in southwest Texas. It has become popular for the lights that sometimes appear in the western sky at night and actually gets some tourist traffic from this.
It even made an episode of King of the Hill.
I have no idea where the name came from. My guess is that it was somone's last name.

[Donuts]

(from Texas State Historical Asociation www.tsha.utexas.edu)

It was established in 1883 as a water stop and freight headquarters for the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway.

Reportedly, the wife of a railroad executive suggested the name Marfa from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, which she was reading at the time.

Marfa is in an area that has been called one of the last American frontiers. It is situated at an altitude of 4,830 feet above sea level in a semiarid region with many dry streambeds that the summer thunderstorms fill and further erode.

To the north are the Davis Mountains, to the southeast the Chisos Mountains, and to the southwest the Chinati Mountains. Marfa lies semiprotected within these escarpments on a great highland plain known as the Marfa Plateau.

By 1885 Marfa had one or two saloons, a hotel, and a general merchandise store-Humphris and Company. Poker bets in the saloons were often made with deeds to town lots.

[andbeyond]

Thanks Donuts for the info.

I was interested. Everything seems to be Hispanic, European, or Native American in origin in that neck of the woods.

Russian language - that explains it. The Brothers Karamazov - I think I was supposed to read that in college....

[SALocalcom]

Yes, the 1st and primary building I'll be over-seeing is a 2 story adobe hotel that is over 100 years old and was referred to as the "old Marfa Hotel". At one time it was used as an office by the artist Donald Judd. Everyone I met seems to be thrilled it's being renovated by the new owner.

[Ryan@MB]

Those are some pretty cool pics, looks like a nice area.

[chadh]

Anyone know what the average price per acre is in Marfa?

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

It even made an episode of King of the Hill.

I saw the episode on Wednesday :applause: They played the lights off as aliens.

[UncleScooter]

I saw the episode on Wednesday :applause: They played the lights off as aliens.LOL, aliens that were Joseph's father. I saw that one this week too. I love King of the Hill!!