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Located nineteen miles west of Rocksprings, the Turner-Davis Ranch Headquarters is a testimonial to the ranching way of life. Established in 1921, the ranch is located in the Edwards Plateau region. The rugged terrain is composed of limestone bedrock and thickets of oak, mesquite and cedar. Not an ideal place for farming, the area attracted ranchers specifically raising Angora goats for the mohair industry. J.R. “Ruby” Davis and his wife, Helen, owned and operated the ranch until 1941. Following WWII, Watt W. Turner and his wife, Elma Evans, bought the ranch from the Fred Cross Family who kept it operating through the war. The Turner Family and their heirs owned the ranch until 2003. The Headquarters’ main residence is a one-story structure made of wood with a steeply pitched metal roof first built in the early 1920s. The Headquarters’ buildings were built to last in pioneer style and were improved upon by each ranching family. In the 1950s, the Bracero program allowed Mexican workers to work on Texas ranches, and the Turner Ranch relied heavily on Mexican labor. After Watt Turner’s death, his brother, Clarence Turner, took over the ranch and kept the Headquarters’ buildings and miles of fencing in good condition. Carl Hyde leased the Ranch from the Turner estate in 1978 with renewed optimism for the mohair industry. He built a new house in 1979 on the Ranch for the foreman, Arnulfo Silva, and his family. The eight-section ranch operated for 82 years until it was sold to a developer in 2003 and subdivided. At one time, the Turner-Davis Ranch supported 6,000 head of livestock. (2014) |
