Marfa, Texas map

Marfa sits on the Marfa Plateau in the Trans-Pecos, 26 miles west of Alpine on US-90 and 60 miles northeast of the border town of Presidio on US-67. It is about 190 road miles from El Paso, which is the nearest city of any size, and it is roughly the same distance from the New Mexico line as it is from the Rio Grande. The town began in 1883 as a water stop on the railroad that became the Southern Pacific, and it took the county seat from the old settlement at Presidio in 1885.

Presidio County covers 3,856 square miles — the fourth-largest county in Texas — and had 6,131 people in 2020, fewer than two per square mile. Its southern and western boundary is 135 miles of the Rio Grande. Jeff Davis County is north, Brewster County southeast, Hudspeth County northwest, and Chihuahua across the river. The county was created in 1850 and named for Presidio del Norte, the old Spanish crossing that is now Ojinaga, Mexico.

The Chinati Foundation occupies the buildings and parade ground of Fort D. A. Russell, a cavalry post on the south edge of town that the army left after the Second World War. Judd's concrete boxes stand in a line across an open field there; two long artillery sheds, reglazed with continuous windows, hold his aluminium pieces, and other buildings carry permanent installations by Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain and others. Separately, the Judd Foundation maintains the artist's own house, studios and library in the block he bought in the middle of town.

On the square the 1886 Presidio County courthouse, pink and domed, is still the tallest thing in Marfa, and the cupola is open to visitors. A block away, the 1930 Hotel Paisano housed the cast of Giant when the film was shot on a ranch outside town in 1955. Marfa also carries a public radio station and a book festival, both unusual for a place this size, and the old army airfield east of town is used for gliders.

Nine miles east of Marfa, on the south side of US-90 toward Alpine, a roadside viewing area faces the Mitchell Flat. Unexplained lights have been reported over that plain since the nineteenth century; they appear near the horizon, split and merge, and are most often seen after dark on clear nights. The viewing station has a parking lot, restrooms and a covered platform, and is open at all hours.