Headquarters
The Post Headquarters has symbolized Fort Concho National Historic Landmark since its beginnings as a museum in 1930. Unique as one of the few surviving headquarters buildings constructed by the late 19th century army, the building boasts original pecan wood flooring in all but two rooms.
Headquarters was built in 1876 at the request of Colonel Benjamin Grierson. Once constructed, the daily business of running a fort was conducted from this building. For three years, 1878-1881, Fort Concho was the headquarters of the District of the Pecos. This distinction added to the significance of the fort.By 1889, however, fort business was coming to an end. Headquarters, with the rest of the fort’s buildings, reverted to civilian ownership. Activity around the fort thus changed. Over the next three decades Headquarters would be used for a variety of purposes.
In 1928, Mrs. Ginerva Wood Carson started the West Texas Museum downtown in the old county courthouse. Quickly outgrowing her location, she set her sights on the old Fort Concho Headquarters. Using innovative means Mrs. Carson raised the money to buy and restore the building. In 1929, Mrs. Carson had raised the money and acquired the Headquarters building to house her museum. In 1930 the museum relocated and was renamed the Fort Concho Museum.
Even as a museum the building has undergone changes as the site has developed from the 1920s to the 1960s, with a circle drive and large pine, to the 1970s-80s garden stage and finally returning to a correct military appearance today.