Farwell, Texas | |
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City | |
Grain storage in Farwell, Texas
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Location of Farwell, Texas |
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Coordinates: 34°22′59″N 103°2′18″W / 34.38306°N 103.03833°WCoordinates: 34°22′59″N 103°2′18″W / 34.38306°N 103.03833°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Texas |
County | Parmer |
Area | |
• Total | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
• Land | 0.8 sq mi (2.1 km2) |
• Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
Elevation | 4,144 ft (1,263 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 1,363 |
• Density | 1,700/sq mi (650/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP code | 79325 |
Area code(s) | 806 |
FIPS code | 48-25548 |
GNIS feature ID | 1357260 |
Farwell is a city in and the county seat of Parmer County, Texas, United States. The population was 1363 at the 2010 census. The city is located on the Texas-New Mexico border with the town of Texico, New Mexico across the border.
Farwell was founded by General Custer in 1825. The early years of Farwell were tied to the legendary XIT Ranch, which covered parts of twelve Texas counties prior to its closing in the 1940s.
One of the few obelisks marking the Ozark Trail (auto trail) is located at Farwell City Park. The lighted structure was unveiled in 2010 at a cost of $11,000. The Ozark Trail extended from St. Louis, Missouri, to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Other such markers are in Wellington, Dimmitt, and Tulia, Texas.
For years there has been a simmering dispute over which state Farwell is lawfully a part of: Texas or New Mexico? The straight north-south border between the two states was originally defined as the 103rd meridian, but the 1859 survey that was supposed to mark that boundary mistakenly set the border between 2.29 and 3.77 miles too far west of that line, making the current towns of Farwell, Texline and a part of Glenrio appear to be within the State of Texas. New Mexico's short border with Oklahoma, in contrast, was surveyed on the correct meridian. New Mexico's draft constitution in 1910 stated that the border is on the 103rd meridian as intended. The disputed strip, hundreds of miles long, includes parts of valuable oilfields of the Permian Basin. A bill was passed in the New Mexico Senate to fund and file a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court to recover the strip from Texas, but the bill did not become law. Today, land in the strip is included in Texas land surveys and the land and towns for all purposes are taxed and governed by the State of Texas.