Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Go back to the 1940s at the Marfa Visitors Center!

Swing was King and soldiers
danced all over the world in USO Halls
Today, Marfa's Visitor Center is in the USO Hall
and it is remarkably unchanged from the 1940s
except for the heritage displays
A block south of the main Hwy 90/Hwy 67 intersection in Marfa is a place visitors ought to experience.  The town's visitor center is located in a relatively untouched 1942 USO Hall, which housed many events for the military and the community when Fort D.A. Russell and the Marfa Army Air Field were in full operation. 

As you enter the building, the Visitors Center information (and helpful, friendly staff!) is in the foyer, but if you walk a little further into the "hall," you'll walk into a nearly pristine 1942 room.  Still in place are the original speakers and stage, and the hall has been enhanced by hundreds of portraits of soldiers.

Only a handful of "Type A Standard USO Halls" were constructed soon after the United States entered World War II. Construction started on Marfa's USO Hall in February 1942, and work was swiftly completed, as the building was ready for events in June that year. 

Now you can visit it yourself, and enjoy the soldier portraits and displays.  And, pick up travel information about Marfa and the entire region, as well!

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