The county seat of Sterling County is here in Sterling City. The city and county were named for…read moreW.S. Sterling, a local buffalo hunter and Indian fighter. The nearby marker points out the history of the area. It reads, "This prairie region split by the north Concho River is old Comanche, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Lipan, and Wichita hunting ground. Possibly it was crossed by six or so Spanish explorations between 1540 and 1654. In the 1860s and 70s, Anglo-Americans hunted buffalo commercially in this area." "An 1860s hunter, Capt. W. S. Sterling, had a dugout home on the creek that bears his name. In the 1870s, bandits Frank and Jesse James kept horse herds on a tributary of Sterling Creek. In 1874 the United States Army occupied Camp Elizabeth, a Fort Concho outpost hospital, about ten miles west of here." "Ranchers from other counties began to bring in large cattle herds in the 1870s, to capitalize on free grass. After keeping out small herds for a time, they permitted actual settlers to share the range. Family men staked land claims, grew crops in the valleys, and opened stores, schools, and post offices." "On March 4, 1891, on the petition of 150 citizens, the county was created out of part of Tom Green County, and named for its first regular resident. Sterling City became the county seat. Petroleum production has been important to the economy since the 1950s; yet the land essentially remains range country, grazed by cattle and sheep." [Review 17419 overall - 432 in Texas - 937 of 2022.]

We were coming back from San Angelo and saw the signs for this and decided to stop. Sooo glad we…read moredid. It is an actual fort/museum. It started with a 20 minute film where you can sit on a bench or on a real saddle. Very cool! It explained about how the fort came to be and all about the Comanche Indians whose land we took. A family has owned the land and it has been passed down from generation to generation. They have quite the gun and arrowhead collection. Very interesting. It's free but they do ask for 10$ a person.

Okay, this place is different. It's a family run site seeing tour of an old fort that was…read morediscovered on their family's land long ago. They have a lot of memorabilia and a huge selection of old guns. It is suggested that you watch a short video before taking the tour...it was interesting but slightly graphic if you have a sensitive child (our 7 and 8 year old are not so they did not care). The kids were able to get inside an old stagecoach and learn that nine people used to ride in them 24 hours a day which was cool. Then you take a tour on an ATV of the different ruins and restored barracks. It was interesting to myself and my husband and they let our little dog come....but the kids were BORED. It was a beautiful day and the grounds were gorgeous, it might have been nice to walk around at our leisure a little. I understand because of the sanctity of the grounds why they wouldn't want to allow it. Maybe if they put a roped off spot where kids could burn off some steam before or after the tour it would be more enjoyable for the younger crowd. The staff here was a TINY bit overbearing and we felt kind of rushed with someone always hovering around trying to be helpful. We wanted to take our time and talk to our kids about all the things. But they meant well. All in all, if you're just a couple of adults looking for something historic to go see it's worth a look but I can't say I recommend bringing your children just because there really wasn't much to captivate them and so they ended up dragging around bored and antsy. It is free though there are signs saying they recommend a donation of $8 per person.

What a gem! We booked a room at the Inn as we were seeing one of our favorite artists that was…read moreplaying that night. So very glad we did! The vibes here are the best! Part of the "compound" are little art shops, the rooms at the Inn are artfully decorated. We stayed in the Santa Fe room and loved it! Comfy bed, nice bathroom, outside sitting area in front and back of the room . There is a well stocked kitchen area open for a late night snack or a bite in the morning to start the day! The music shows are outside and their is free food before the show, that's something you don't get elsewhere! I can't say enough about this place. We will be back!

What a cool little place that is hidden in San Angelo. Wonderful pieces of art on sale. You can…read moremeet, and talk to the artisans. They're very friendly people, very willing to answer questions you have, San Angelo is lucky to have a place like this

If you enjoy weird sights, the World's Largest Jackrabbit statue is a fun bookmark in Odessa, TX…read more You could easily drive by it and not know it. It doesn't stand out. The statue itself is grey with a gold medallion and a red/white/blue ribbon around its neck. It tends to blend in with its surroundings especially on a day like we visited (3/29/2024). There are a couple of signs on either side of it with interesting history pertaining to Odessa & the hare organism. There was ample, free parking. If you have time, walk a short distance to the "P.I.F" (Pay It Forward) sculpture. The artistic messages will put inspiration in your heart. PS - Jackalopes are in the same category as dragons, unicorns, and mermaids... as much as I wish they were reality they are very much non-existent. It doesn't matter that they are Odessa's local hockey team mascot. So when someone not from Texas tells me they "saw a jackalope in the pasture the other day" (and sadly this has happened more than once), I'm automatically putting you on the crazy list.

Found this little guy in a Texas oddball book I bought for our road trip. I was so happy to see he…read morewas still there & unharmed!! Go visit him!

This historic fort doesn't have a visitor center, it's fully self-guided using the pamphlet that's…read morelocated under the covered area connected to the bathrooms. I didn't know what this place would be like, I just know that we like stopping places on long road trips and walking around historic sites is always fun, and I was actually pretty impressed with how easy it was to guide ourselves around Fort Phantom Hill. A lot of the buildings have been lost, mostly due to the fire that the last commanding officer of the fort set on his way out (a wild story that's in the pamphlet!), but a lot of the stone foundations remain and it was cool to walk around and see them. The paths aren't paved, so in warmer times of the year make sure you watch out for snakes, but it's a great place for a quick 30 minute walk around to learn a little history, see some cool ruins, and stretch your legs before you have to get back in the car. It's not far off the highway, and doesn't take long to walk the whole loop!

there were some signs in the front and map. the old buildings were cool but not accessible to look…read moreinside of them.

I wish YELP had a catagory for Sights to See or Local Attractions. I travel a lot and try to find…read morelocal flavor, or "what sets one town apart from any other." When I first went to Meridian, Mississippi I found they had the fantastic Dentzel Carousel, and beautifully painted life-sized carousel horses which were scattered around town as a fundraising venture for "Hope Village" for children. Tracking down the carousel horses made for a fantastic adventure. This adventure started a trend for me. Now I look for this same type of art project in all of the towns I travel to. Here in Abilene there are numerous outdoor Sculptures scattered all over town. I found quite a few, but I'm sure I missed a lot of them. I've posted some of these photos here. There is also a Fantastic Rock Sculpture at the University and the ruins of an old abandoned Fort (Fort Phantom Hill) to explore nearby. Besides the outdoor art, my dad loved visiting the "12th Armored Division Memorial Museum" & we both enjoyed "Frontier Texas". You can learn more about the area by checking out http://abilenecac.org/index.htm - - - So far I have found a lot of unique things in my travels. In Texas : Abilene - Iron Sculptures Amarillo - Quarter Horses Austin - Guitars Corpus Christi - Dolphins Odessa - Rabbits Wichita Falls - Mustangs - - - In Mississippi : Madison - Carousel Horses Hattiesburg - Swans Biloxi - tree sculptures - - - In Oklahoma: Shawnee - Painted Indian Ponies - - - * The next time I travel through Colorado I plan to look for the Painted Piano's scattered around Fort Collins.

Stopped buy the Abilene Chamber of Commerce to pick up welcome packets, it was the first time I had…read morewent their location to do so, as you enter the building you see the elevator, push the button for number 2 . When the doors open there it it!! Nice friendly people. Was only able to get a couple packs. I need to save some money and join the Chamber.

Really happy we made time to see this historical landmark. Private tour and great insight into the…read morelate 1800s. Well worth the visit!

We received a tour as a homeschool group. The lady who showed us around (I cannot remember her name…read morenow) was fantastic! She knew the history well and made the tour a real treat. Some of the furniture pieces used to stage the house were real elegant and fun to see. They have an original bedroom set to the White family made of wood, in pristine condition, incredible! The rotary phone actually works and my child was able to make a local call on it. The house sits on the highest natural point in Odessa and grows pretty much anything they want to plant. The house has suffered some vandalism and made me long for simple days of the past where people had work to do and didn't go around cutting up other peoples trees and damaging property. All in all I loved this field trip offered to us and highly recommend going if you can. I know the city doesn't want much to do with this historical site, which is a real shame. If the city became involved this historical site might be here for future generations of people. I know they are struggling to keep it as it is. It's a real gem.

THE BIG: Beautiful, scenic stone arrangement located in Big Bend National Park. The trail leading…read moreup to is called the Grapevine Hills Trail. THE BLACK AND WHITE: It took about 25 mins driving on a sketchy unpaved road to get to the trail start. It's bumpy and make sure you have a car that can clear roughly 7 inches of super potholey roads. The hike itself wasn't bad. It's roughly 2 miles round trip and it is HOT. Even in late March when we went, it is brutal at 11am. It's flat for the first portion but it gets into rock scrambles near the end of the trail leading up to Balanced Rock. THE FINAL BAMBOO: Rocky road to get to the spot, but you're rewarded with a beautiful view of Balanced Rock that could be a part of Arches national park, plus a couple hundreds of miles.

This is an awesome place to stop on any road trip, especially if you've never had the chance to see…read morethe real Stonehenge in the UK! They did a great job recreating it (at a smaller scale, of course) but it's still amazing to see up close, and you're allowed to walk through the pillars here, whereas in the UK you can't get anywhere near the actual Stonehenge pillars. We were on a road trip and when I heard about this place, I knew we had to swing by and experience it for ourselves. It was only about 15 minutes out of the car, but when you're driving across the massive emptiness of West Texas, every cool stop is worth the chance to stretch your legs. Check it out if you're driving through!

the stonehenge was underwhelming as a whole. it was not very big and it was within a college with…read moremany speed bumps around.