Stanton, TX

Stanton began as Grelton, a Texas and Pacific Railroad settlement that German immigrants renamed Marienfeld, or "Field of Mary." The first settlers arrived in 1881, and when Martin County was organized in 1884, Marienfeld became the county seat. The railroad brought people into the area, while the surrounding ranch and farm country gave the new town something to hold onto. John Scharbauer established a cattle ranch near the future town in 1887, adding another thread to the local story. Stanton is still a county-seat town in West Texas, with its German and railroad beginnings sitting underneath the present-day streets. The quick local read is railroad, German settlement, and ranch country.