Van Horn is located in southwestern Culberson County at . Interstate 10 passes through the town, leading east to Fort Stockton and northwest to El Paso. Van Horn is the western terminus of U.S. Route 90; from Van Horn it leads southeast to Marfa. Texas State Highway 54 leads north from Van Horn to Pine Springs and the Guadalupe Mountains. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all land. Threemile Peak, elevation, rises to the northwest overlooking the town.
Climate
History
Anglo-Texan settlement began in the late 1850s and early 1860s supportive of the San Antonio-El PasoOverland Mail route. Although U.S. Army Major Jefferson Van Horne is believed to have passed near the area in 1849 on his way to take command of what would later become Fort Bliss, the town is instead named for Lt. James Judson Van Horn who commanded an army garrison at the Van Horn Wells beginning in 1859. Lt. Van Horn's command was relatively short-lived, as the post was seized by Confederate forces in 1861 and Lt. Van Horn taken prisoner. Settlement was further stimulated by the construction of the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881. The town has several buildings on the National Register of Historic Places including the First Presbyterian Church, built in 1901.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, 2,435 people, 834 households, and 652 families resided in the town. The population density was 846.9 people per square mile. The 976 housing units averaged 339.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 64.60% White, 0.66% African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 31.46% from other races, and 2.14% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 78.60% of the population.
In late 2006, The Wall Street Journal reported that Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, had acquired of land north of Van Horn, including the Figure 2 Ranch Airport, to house his fledgling space tourism company, Blue Origin., Blue Origin had been expected to start commercial operations as early as 2010, aiming for 52 launches per year from the Van Horn facility. In early 2010, NASA awarded Blue Origin US$3.7 million to work on an advanced technology, which detaches a crew cabin from its launcher if the shuttle malfunctions. As of August 2016, Blue Origin was still conducting test flights with plans to begin flying piloted tests in 2017 and paying customers in 2018.
10,000-year clock
In 2009 the Van Horn Advocate announced that the Long Now Foundation was starting geologic testing for an underground space to house a 10,000-year Clock of the Long Now, on the Bezos ranch, north of Van Horn.
Popular culture
Van Horn provided the inspiration for the 2019 song "Van Horn" by alternative-rock band Saint Motel which was featured on their EP The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Part 1 after the band spent a night there on a recent tour.
