Alpine

History

The area had been a campsite for cattlemen tending their herds between 1878 and the spring of 1882, when a town of tents was created by railroad workers and their families. Because the section of the railroad was called Osborne, that was the name of the small community for a brief time. The railroad needed access to water from springs owned by brothers named Daniel and Thomas Murphy, so it entered into an agreement with the Murphys to change the name of the section and settlement to Murphyville in exchange for a contract to use the spring. In November 1883, the Murphys registered a plat for the town of Murphyville with the county clerk of Presidio County. The town's name was changed to Alpine on February 3, 1888, following a petition by its residents. At this time, a description of the town mentioned a dozen houses, three saloons, a hotel and rooming house, a livery stable, a butcher shop, and a drugstore, which also housed the post office. Alpine grew very slowly until Sul Ross State Normal College (now Sul Ross State University) was opened in 1920. The development of Big Bend National Park in the 1930s and '40s spurred further growth. The population was estimated at only 396 in 1904, but by 1927, it had risen to 3,000. The 1950 census reported Alpine's population at 5,256, and a high of roughly 6,200 was reached by 1976. In 1990, the population was down to 5,637. In 2000, the population grew modestly to 5,786 and 5,905 by 2010. The Holland Hotel, built during a brief mercury-mining boom, was designed by Henry Trost, a distinguished regional architect. Today, it helps to anchor a traditional downtown of early 20th-century buildings still occupied by family-owned retailers and restaurants.

Geography

The town sits on a high plateau, in the Chihuahua Desert, with the Davis Mountains to the north and the Chisos Mountains to the south. Outcrops of ancient volcanic rocks spread to the northwest. Other layers of rocks have been exposed over time as the mountains were forced up and then eroded. The high elevation cools the desert air in the evenings. The small rocky outcrop just northeast of the historic downtown strip is informally referred to by long-time locals as Bollinger Ridge, named after a family of early 20th-century ranchers. Alpine is located on U.S. Route 90, about east of Marfa and 31 miles west of Marathon. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• White-winged Dove

  Zenaida asiatica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,368
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,042
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  2,820
• Curve-billed Thrasher

  Toxostoma curvirostre (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  2,368
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  2,110
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,680
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,515
• Ladder-backed Woodpecker

  Dryobates scalaris (Wagler, 1829) · Aves
  1,431

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2026-08-14
  22 km SE of Lindsay, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2026-08-03
  22 km SSE of Lindsay, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2026-04-07
  17 km WSW of Coyanosa, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2026-04-03
  31 km ESE of Balmorhea, Texas
• M 2.6 — 2026-03-27
  26 km SW of Coyanosa, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2026-02-23
  13 km E of Balmorhea, Texas