Ward

Formed February 26, 1887 (236^th county)

Ward County (10,658), Monahans (6,953)

The Modern courthouse was built in 1940 on the square at Allen Avenue and 5^th Street.  The site is five blocks south of Interstate Business 20 and one block east of Texas State Highway 18.  The facility is made of white stone and concrete.  The architect was Townes & Funk.  The structure was enlarged in 1974 and renovated in 2012.  Barstow had the other courthouse for the county on February 26, 1887 with Monahans assuming the county seat in 1940.  The county was carved from Tom Green County as the 236^th county.  Ward County was named for Thomas William Ward who was a Texas patriot and land commissioner.  The county seat was named for John Monahans who dug the first well in the area. 

Ward County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Ward, Loving, and Reeves counties and One County Court Judge serves Ward County.  The county is located in far West Texas southwest of Odessa, Texas and east of El Paso, Texas.  The Pecos River forms the south and west borders of the county.  The county center is 12.4 miles West-Southwest of Monahans nearer Pyote.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Winkler, Ector, Crane, Pecos, Reeves, and Loving counties. 

The area of the county is 836 square miles.  It is 196 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 162 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 12.75 persons per square mile making it 159 out of 254 in the state.  Ward County has 82.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 20 crosses diagonally from Ector County, northeast, to Reeves County, west.  The county is shaped like a fan pointing to the southwest.  Monahans city limits extended into Winkler County.  Monahans is in the far northeast corner in the county.  Monahans is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 65.2% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced MON-A-HANS.