Editing Marfa, Texas (section)

==History==
[[File:Marfa courthouse.jpg|left|thumb|[[Presidio County, Texas|Presidio County]] Courthouse in Marfa]]
[[File:Texas - Marbel Falls Dam through Marshal Ford Dam - NARA - 68149550 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Marfa in 1941]]
Marfa was founded in the early 1880s as a [[railroad water stop]]. The town was named "Marfa" (Russian for "Martha") at the suggestion of the wife of a railroad executive. Although some historians have hypothesized that the name came from a character in [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]'s novel ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'',<ref>"{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Big Bend Studies |last=Wilson |first=Thomas |year=2001 |title=How Marfa, Texas Got Its Name |url=http://www.bigbendquarterly.com/marfa.htm |access-date=2012-09-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121000708/http://www.bigbendquarterly.com/marfa.htm |archive-date=2008-11-21 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Sul Ross State University]]}}</ref> Marfa was actually named after Marfa Strogoff, a character in [[Jules Verne]]'s novel ''[[Michael Strogoff]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/marfa_summary/ |title=Marfa (summary) |last=Popik |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Popik |date=2008-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116064720/http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/marfa_summary/ |archive-date=2013-01-16 |access-date=2013-05-05 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Southwestern Historical Quarterly |volume=48 |year=1944 |page=295 |url=http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146055/m1/313/ |access-date=2013-05-05 |oclc=1766223 |issn=0038-478X |lccn=12-20299 |title=Marfa}}</ref> According to Sterry Butcher of the ''[[Texas Monthly]]'', a writer researched the Karamazov story and deemed it false, but did not receive any letters to the editor after he submitted the story to the newspaper, and therefore "No one cared. The story we had suited Marfa just fine."<ref name=Butchermyst>{{cite web|last=Butcher|first=Sterry|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-marfa-mystique/|title=The Marfa Mystique |work=[[Texas Monthly]]|date=December 2017|accessdate=2022-05-26}}</ref>

The town grew quickly during the 1920s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Presidio_County,_Texas_Genealogy|title=Presidio County, Texas Genealogy|website=FamilySearch |date=16 September 2022 }}</ref>

The Marfa Army Air Field served as a training facility for several thousand pilots during World War II, including the American actor [[Robert Sterling]], before closing in 1945. The base was also used as the training ground for many of the United States Army's [[chemical mortar battalion]]s.{{clear|left}}

Marfa experienced economic issues after the war ended and after a [[drought]] impaired agricultural output. Artist [[Donald Judd]] arrived in 1973 and began buying properties to renovate, which resulted in [[bohemianism|bohemian]] interest in the community.<ref name=Swartzwealthy>{{cite web|last=Swartz|first=Mimi|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/battle-soul-marfa/|title=A Battle for the Soul of Marfa|work=[[Texas Monthly]]|date=2020-01-22|accessdate=2022-05-26}}</ref> In 2012 ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' described it as a "playground" for "art-world pioneers and pilgrims".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wilsey|first1=Sean|last2=Beal|first2=Daphne|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/07/inside-marfa-artists-donald-judd|title=Lone Star Bohemia|work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=July 2012|accessdate=2022-05-26}}</ref> Marfa is about 60 miles from the Mexico-U.S. border.