Just 25 miles north of Van Horn, some of the most advanced aerospace engineering on the planet is taking place. This is the home of Blue Origin’s New Shepard, a fully reusable rocket system designed for space tourism. The engineering behind it is remarkable. Unlike traditional rockets that are discarded, the New Shepard booster flies to the edge of space and then returns to Earth, performing a powered vertical landing on a concrete pad. This requires incredibly complex guidance systems, throttleable BE-3 rocket engines that can restart in mid-air, and deployable fins for stabilization as it descends at supersonic speeds. The passenger capsule separates and lands gently under parachutes. The entire system is designed for rapid reuse, a key engineering challenge in lowering the cost of access to space. What you're near isn't just a launch pad; it's a real-world laboratory for the future of rocketry and transportation.
Blue Origin's first human launch from, and return to, Van Horn occurred on the morning of July 20, 2021, with a crew of four people. This spaceport is named Corn Ranch and is located 25 miles north of Van Horn on land acquired by Jeff Bezos in 2006.
Van Horn, Texas. It’s a small place, no doubt, a spot on the map where Interstate 10 cuts through the vast West Texas landscape. Seems like a quiet place, and it is. But even quiet places have their stories.
Culberson County
1849
Culberson County is located in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. It is bordered by New Mexico to the north and by Hudspeth, Reeves, and Jeff Davis counties in Texas. Van Horn, the county seat, is approximately 120 miles east of El Paso in the southwestern part of the county. The county's center lies about thirty-six miles northeast of Van Horn at approximately 32°27' north latitude and 104°29' west longitude. Interstate Highway 10 and U.S. Highway 80 cross southern Culberson County from east to west; U.S. Highway 90 enters the county from the south and terminates at Van Horn; and U.S. highways 62 and 180 cross the county's northwestern corner. Two lines belonging to the Union Pacific Railroad cross the county's southwestern corner. Culberson County comprises 3,815 square miles of terrain that varies from mountainous to nearly level, with elevations ranging from 8,751 feet on Guadalupe Peak, the highest spot in the state, to 3,000 feet. The county is in the Rio Grande basin. Soils in Culberson County are primarily shallow and stony, with some clay and sandy loams and sand. Vegetation consists of scrub brush, grasses, cacti, creosote bush, post oak, chaparral, oak, juniper, mesquite, yucca, and agave, with Douglas fir, aspen, Arizona cypress, maple, and madrone trees in the Guadalupe Mountains. The Guadalupes are also the home of several endangered or locally rare plant species, including bigtooth maple, ponderosa pine, chinquapin oak, Rocky Mountain juniper, Texas madrone, and Mexican buckeye, and of the only elk in Texas. Dolomite, gypsum, limestone, salt, silver, copper, lead, zinc, barite, and molybdenum are among the minerals found in Culberson County. The climate is mild and dry, with an average minimum temperature of 30° F in January and an average maximum of 94° in July. The growing season averages 224 days a year, and the average annual precipitation is ten inches. Less than 1 percent of the land in Culberson County is considered prime farmland. Today Culberson County is best known as the site of Guadalupe Mountains National Park , which includes Guadalupe Peak and is a major tourist attraction. The Guadalupes and the county's other mountains, such as the Delaware, Beach, Wylie, Sierra Diablo, Van Horn, Apache, and Baylor ranges, made the area ideal for Indians seeking protection from their enemies and a remote home base from which to launch attacks. The earliest sign of human occupation in the area, found in the Guadalupes, is a 12,000-year-old Folsom point. Later, hunter-gatherers probably inhabited the mountains only during the summer; they also left artifacts, as well as pictographs. The most famous indigenous inhabitants of the mountains, the Apaches, arrived about 600 years ago. They harvested agave, yucca, and sotol when meat was unavailable, and their agave-roasting pits are still visible in the Guadalupes. The area that was to become Culberson County was largely untouched by Spanish exploration, due to its forbidding topography. In 1583, however, Antonio de Espejo became the first European to see the Mescalero Apaches, on the prairie just east of the Guadalupe Mountains. Beginning about 1630 the Mescaleros were raiding the more populous Plains Navajos and Pueblos from the Guadalupes; fifty years later they had added El Paso del Norte to their list of targets. By the beginning of the eighteenth century Comanches from the Llano Estacado had ended the Apache domination of western Texas, and the Mescaleros, based in the Guadalupes, restricted their raids to a smaller geographical area. Their ferocity, however, was unaffected, and the Mescaleros became one of the most feared of all Indian groups in Texas. Their presence, combined with the area's isolation, ensured that the area would not become popular with White settlers. By the middle of the nineteenth century, however, emigrants were seeking new routes to connect central and eastern Texas with El Paso and California. The 1849 gold rush increas
(Three miles south) One of Texas' first cross-country wagon trails. The San Antonio-El Paso section of this route was surveyed in 1848 by a party under the intrepid Indian fighter Jack Hays. Used first by emigrants and gold-seekers, it became part of the San Antonio-San Diego mail line (1857), one of America's pioneer mail services. Passengers on the line paid $200 (one-way) to share a swaying Concord coach with 600 pounds of mail and braved bandits, dust, floods, and Indians to spend 27 days traveling 1,500 miles. Service ended in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War.
First permanent structure in Van Horn. Earliest portion (built 1901) housed original city post office. Main portion was built in 1905-06 by John Cox of concrete blocks handmade by crew on site. In 1911-12, when Culberson was newly organized, served as the county courthouse. Until 1918, when converted to hotel by Fred Clark, structure was site for theatrical programs and school graduations and housed a saloon, offices, and all kinds of shops. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1971
The Van Horn Mountains begin nine miles southwest of Van Horn in southeastern Hudspeth County and stretch sixteen miles southeast, across southwestern Culberson County and into northwestern Jeff Davis County (their center point is 30°42' N, 104°50' W). The highest elevation in the Van Horn Mountains is 5,565 feet above sea level. The surrounding rugged terrain is surfaced by shallow, stony soils that support post oak, live oak, piñon, juniper, chaparral, and grasses. The mountains, like the town of Van Horn, were named after Lt. James Judson Van Horn , who commanded a garrison at nearby Van Horn Wells from 1859 to 1861. The Van Horn Mountains have been fertile ground for minerals. The Hazel Mine, opened in 1856 by Thomas Owen or Owens, yielded over a million pounds of copper between 1891 to 1947 and more than two million ounces of silver over a similar period ( see COPPER PRODUCTION , and SILVER MINING ). When the price of silver rose in the early 1970s, exploration began near the old Plata Verde mine, but it ceased in the early 1980s when the price of silver dropped again. A mica quarry operated briefly in the Van Horns in the early 1980s.
County Named for Texas Confederate Colonel David B. Culberson
1863
[front side] 1830-1900. Native Georgian. Came to Texas 1856. Although opposed to secession he aided in raising 18th Texas Infantry as Lt. Colonel, C.S.A. Made commanding Colonel of 18th in 1862. After service in Vicksburg area broken health forced resignation of command winter 1862-63. As Adjutant and Inspector General of Texas 1863-64 responsible for protection of frontier against Indian attacks, Union invasion. A Memorial to Texans Who Served the Confederacy. Erected by the State of Texas 1963. [reverse side] War brought turmoil to Indians living in Kansas and the Indian Territory, with unfortunate results for Texans on the frontier. Most Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks and Seminoles aided the South, while others adhered to the North. Few Comanches made a treaty with the South; but a great majority with their allies, the Kiowas, held aloof from either side and plundered the frontier at will. Apaches and Kickapoos did the same from Mexico. Texas and Confederate troops, despite poor arms and mounts, held defense lines until war's end.
Culberson County is located in the Trans-Pecos region of West Texas. It is bordered by New Mexico to the north and by Hudspeth, Reeves, and Jeff Davis counties in Texas. Van Horn, the county seat, is approximately 120…
You're driving through Van Horn, a town named for a man who never actually lived here! Back in 1859, Lieutenant James Judson Van Horn commanded a small garrison at Van Horn Wells, a vital water stop for travelers. His…
The Van Horn Mountains begin nine miles southwest of Van Horn in southeastern Hudspeth County and stretch sixteen miles southeast, across southwestern Culberson County and into northwestern Jeff Davis County (their…
You're driving through West Texas, and you might be passing near the town that bears the name of James Judson Van Horn. He was an army officer who served right here, in what is now Culberson County, back in 1859. He…
Just 25 miles north of Van Horn, some of the most advanced aerospace engineering on the planet is taking place. This is the home of Blue Origin’s New Shepard, a fully reusable rocket system designed for space tourism.…
Blue Origin's first human launch from, and return to, Van Horn occurred on the morning of July 20, 2021, with a crew of four people. This spaceport is named Corn Ranch and is located 25 miles north of Van Horn on land…
If you drive through downtown Van Horn, you can't miss the grand adobe-colored building with the red tile roof: the Hotel El Capitan. It opened July 10, 1930, a Pueblo Revival landmark by Henry Trost, the El Paso…
If you have time for a side trip, head north out of Van Horn on State Highway 54, toward the Guadalupes. Out that way the desert floor turns a blinding white — the salt flats at the foot of the mountains. For…
The reason this town has its name isn't the railroad or the highway, but something much older: a watering hole called Van Horn's Wells. It sits about twelve miles south of the modern town, and it was a lifeline in the…
[front side] 1830-1900. Native Georgian. Came to Texas 1856. Although opposed to secession he aided in raising 18th Texas Infantry as Lt. Colonel, C.S.A. Made commanding Colonel of 18th in 1862. After service in…
You're driving past the old Culberson County Jail in Van Horn. Built in 1912, this red brick jail was a response to Mexican bandit attacks and aimed to provide local law enforcement. Amazingly, prisoners sometimes dug…
You're driving through Van Horn, and right here is the site of the very first church building in town. This humble Presbyterian structure served as a house of worship for all faiths in the community until other…
First permanent structure in Van Horn. Earliest portion (built 1901) housed original city post office. Main portion was built in 1905-06 by John Cox of concrete blocks handmade by crew on site. In 1911-12, when…
(Three miles south) One of Texas' first cross-country wagon trails. The San Antonio-El Paso section of this route was surveyed in 1848 by a party under the intrepid Indian fighter Jack Hays. Used first by emigrants and…
You're driving through Culberson County, formed from El Paso County back in 1911. It was named for David B. Culberson, a prominent constitutional lawyer, Confederate officer, and a member of both the Texas legislature…
Van Horn Wells · 10.9 mi
Van Horn Wells, about twelve miles south of the town of Van Horn in Culberson County, was for decades the only dependable water supply for miles in every direction across this arid stretch of far West Texas. Native…
You're driving through West Texas, where water was life. For centuries, these Van Horn Wells were the only dependable water for miles, used by native peoples. In the mid-1800s, both wagon trains and soldiers on the San…
Lobo - Art Collective Revival · 14.5 mi · Historical Marker
In 2014, you could buy an entire town in West Texas for the price of a used car. Lobo, population zero, sat abandoned along a desolate stretch of road between Van Horn and Marfa. It had been a small agricultural and…
You're driving through Hudspeth County, and right here was Eagle Springs Stage Stand. From 1854 to 1882, this remote outpost served as a vital station for stagecoaches and wagon trains. It was a crucial link, bringing…
You're driving past the site of the Feely Cemetery, first used in 1910 for the burial of an infant son. The owner of a grocery in Plateau, J.H. Feely, became Culberson County's first sheriff in 1911. He was killed in…