At only 836 square miles, Ward County, formed in 1892, is one of the smallest counties in West Texas. Monahans was established in 1881 as one of several water stations along the Texas and Pacific Railway. Barstow was the county’s first seat, but economic development and Monahan’s railroad connection led to a bitterly disputed move of the seat to Monahans in the 1930s. The Barstow courthouse was razed. Monahans experienced a boom in the 1950s and 1960s, when oil production in the county climbed. But after 1968, production and economic activity declined, and so did the population; much of the town is now boarded up.
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