Blackwell Blueprint

What’s next for Blackwell National Historic Site?

Now that we have a national historic site established and the National Park Service (NPS) arrowhead displayed, more good things are on the way! To ensure that Blackwell is launched with the same kind of support and passion that brought it into the National Park System, it’s time to work together to envision what this important historic treasure needs for the future and how to make that vision a reality.

Press Release

Victory! Blackwell School Formally Established as 430th National Park Site

Latino history at Blackwell and beyond is pivotally important to understanding our country’s past, navigating its present, and…

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At the same time, the park service has started its Foundation planning, a federal process focused on the site itself, and helping NPS know how to best manage the park and better understand the Blackwell resources, values, and history.

Blackwell Blueprint is a collaborative ideas workshop, hosted by the National Park Conservation Association, the Blackwell School Alliance, and Visit Marfa. It’s designed to spur creativity and vision for the successful future of this new national park and how the park can benefit the neighborhood, the City of Marfa, and the Region. Being a new national park, public interest and support is high and the climate right to create a vision and then launch a series of improvements, enhancements, and initiatives to benefit Marfa residents and visitors to the Blackwell School National Historic Site.

What this workshop is:

Blog Post

The Complicated History at One of America’s Segregated Schools

One student shares her experiences at the Blackwell School in Marfa, Texas, a site many want preserved in the National Park System.

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This workshop is a collaborative effort, involving professional planners, architects, engineers, historians, people involved in tourism, the arts, local government, business, people whose lives are entwined with the Blackwell School story, neighborhood and Marfa residents, non-profit groups, and others. These people will come together to envision what this new national park site needs to better connect with the neighborhood; to connect visitors to other sites and attractions in Marfa and the Region; to create a sense of place; to tell the story outward from the school and into the community; and to develop improvements to this great urban national park that benefit residents and visitors alike. The workshop will weave in existing planning and public input that has been done in Marfa over the years. Participants will convene around three themes, generating ideas for:

• Creating a Sense of Place

• Building the Blackwell Experience

• Connecting Blackwell to the Community

What this workshop isn’t:

This is not just another study that just sits on a shelf. The workshop will create ideas that flow into visuals and recommendations and an “action matrix” of high priority needs and projects. These projects will range from infrastructure improvements to concepts that bring the Blackwell stories into the community.

What are the next steps?

People come together in an ideas session on October 25th. Then following the Blackwell Blueprint workshop, the concepts and input that are on the table will be developed into visuals, a project matrix, and approximate costs for concepts in the vision. This Blueprint will provide a roadmap for the future to realize improvements that benefit residents and visitors alike and connect Blackwell to the community and the Region.