Marfa (population 1,700) is in the high desert of West Texas, 45 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border, and has become known for its blend of art, desert landscapes, and mystery.
The city has been a hub for contemporary art since the 1970s, when artist Donald Judd relocated here and started erecting large-scale art installations. Since then, other artists have moved here and launched exhibitions and galleries.
The natural beauty of the community and the surrounding area gained fame after serving as the filming locations for movies like No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Those same landscapes have drawn outdoor enthusiasts to Marfa, too. The surrounding Chihuahuan Desert, as well as the nearby Davis Mountains State Park and Big Bend National Park, offer opportunities for hiking, bird-watching, and stargazing. The notorious Marfa Lights, orbs of light in the night sky, baffle scientists and captivate visitors. Theories about the origins of the illuminations include atmospheric reflections and extraterrestrial activity.
But perhaps lesser-known is Marfa’s important Mexican-American history, which was highlighted this month when a new national park site was named in the Texas town to recognize a darker part of some Mexican Americans’ past.
Blackwell School named National Historic Site
On July 17, 2024, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland formally established the Blackwell School as a National Historic Site. Operating from 1909 to 1965, Blackwell was one of the many schools across the Southwest that enforced a form of de facto segregation, forcing Mexican American students to attend separate institutions from their white peers. At that same time, Jim Crow laws demanded that Black students be educated separately. However, it was up to various districts to decide whether Hispanic children would also be educated separately, and Blackwell was one such school. In addition to having below-average learning materials, students were punished for speaking their native Spanish.
“Today’s designation of the Blackwell School as our nation’s newest national park ensures that the rich history and cultural heritage of this significant place is preserved for future generations,” Secretary Haaland said in a press release. “This site is a powerful reminder of our nation’s diverse and often complex journey toward equality and justice. By honoring the legacy of Blackwell School, we recognize the resilience and contributions of the Latino community in our shared history.”
Alumni and descendants of the school coalesced in 2006 to prevent the school from being torn down. They have been fighting for nearly two decades to see the site transformed into a public landmark instead. Together, they formed the Blackwell School Alliance and, in 2018, partnered with the National Parks Conservation Association to have the school recognized as protected land.
President Biden signed the naming of the park in October 2022, but it took the National Park Service nearly two years of working with the Marfa Independent School District and the City of Marfa, Texas, to acquire the land to officially establish it as a national park.
How to visit
The Blackwell School National Historic Site includes the original 1909 adobe schoolhouse, as well as a separate smaller building of classrooms built in 1927, known as the Band Hall. Each structure contains photographs, memorabilia, and interpretive panels that share the stories of the students and teachers who worked and learned there. The school is at 501 South Abbott Street, Marfa, Texas, and is currently open to the public for very limited hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 4 p.m. It is possible that the National Park Service will expand those hours once operations are more fully integrated into the NPS system.
The National Park System continues to grow
There are now 430 national park sites (including full-fledged national parks, national monuments, national historic sites, and more) across the United States. The 75 other national historic sites, which all recognize areas of national historic significance, include Ford’s Theatre, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, and the homes of former presidents, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Harry S. Truman, and Herbert Hoover.
This park unit is the seventh national park unit designated under President Biden. The others include:
- Camp Hale National Monument in Colorado
- Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada
- Castner Range National Monument in Texas
- Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which consists of sites in Illinois and Mississippi
- Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument in Arizona
- Amache National Historic Site in Colorado
Each new park unit designated so far during Biden’s single presidential term has sought to recognize historical moments important to minority communities that have traditionally not seen themselves represented in the story of the national park system. The Blackwell School is only the second site dedicated to modern Latino history, after the César E. Chávez National Monument was established in 2012 just outside Keene, California.
“A complete history of America must include everyone’s story. The designation of the Blackwell School National Historic Site is an important step in telling a more diverse and inclusive history of the Mexican American experience in our country,” Director of the National Park Service Chuck Sams said in a release.
Cary Dupuy, Texas regional director for the National Parks Conservation Association, echoed that sentiment in a separate statement, adding, “In formally establishing the Blackwell School National Historic Site today, the Biden administration has sent a powerful message echoing through our country. The message is that Latino stories matter. Latino history at Blackwell and beyond is pivotally important to understanding our country’s past, navigating its present, and building for its future.”
