COUNTY NAMED FOR: Thomas W. Ward, second commissioner of the General Land Office of Texas.

COUNTY SEATS:  Two - Barstow until 1938, then Monahans

COUNTY SEAT NAMED FOR: Thomas John (Pat) Monahan, who dug the first water well between the Pecos River and Big Spring at Monahans in 1881 and selected the site for a water tank, around which a ranch supply point later developed. Town was originally called Monahan's Well.

COURTHOUSES: Two - 1893 in Barstow and 1940 in Monahans. The 1893 courthouse was demolished in 1939.

STANDING: One - 1940 Modern courthouse built of sandstone.