22
22 MARATHON
Pla�
DO
• See Fort Pena Colorado ( Post Park )
• Tour Gage Gardens
• Marathon Public Library Lecture Series ( every other Wednesday , various topics )
• French Company Grocer backyard ( community meal nights , live music , karaoke )
ANNUAL EVENTS
• Chili Cookoff - July
• West Fest Cabrito Cook Off - September
• Fiesta de Noche Buena - first Saturday in December
• Quilt Show - October
• Marathon 2 Marathon - October - Boston qualifier race . marathon2marathon . net
Sta�
GAGE HOTEL
( 432 ) 386-4205 gagehotel . com
EVE ’ S GARDEN
( 432 ) 386-4165 evesgarden . org
RV PARKS
MARATHON MOTEL & RV PARK
( 432 ) 386-4241
marathonmotel . com
Ea� & D����
12 GAGE RESTAURANT
( 432 ) 386-4205 gagehotel . com
BIG BEND PIZZA
( 432 ) 386-8883
Pla� , Sta� , Ea�
& MORE
BRICK VAULT BREWERY & BARBECUE
( 432 ) 386-7538 brickvaultbreweryandbbq . com
V6 COFFEE BAR
( 432 ) 308-6877
COW DOG
( 432 ) 360-3613 cowdogdog . com
MORE IDEAS & INFORMATION :
Marathon Chamber of Commerce marathontexas . com
VisitBigBend . com - A full resource with more places to stay and eat and things to do . Updated COVID-19 information .
Continued from page 17 .
The train breathed life into a previously empty desert . When Captain Shepard fi rst applied to the Postmaster General for a post offi ce in Marathon in September of 1882 , he enthusiastically exaggerated the population as ‘ around 130 and increasing rapidly .’ By the 1920s , the town boasted 1,000 residents and several industries : the railroad , commerce from the mines at Boquillas and Terlingua , the guayule rubber factory ( the only source of natural rubber outside the Amazon rain forest at the time ) and a booming ranching industry . As steam engines were replaced with diesel , Marathon absorbed the smaller towns around it , including Tesnus to the east and Altuda to the west . In spite of its former size and importance to the region the town has never been incorporated , and today the population holds steady around only 400 souls .
As the west evolved and automobiles overtook the trains , Marathon might have gone the way of so many railroad towns into obscurity ; but the inception of Big Bend National Park in 1944 meant that just as one chapter was closing in the life of a tiny frontier town , another was being written . As the northern gateway to the National Park , Marathon became a major stopover for tourists to the region , and so it remains today , with a vibrant community that is both inwardly focused and welcoming to visitors .
Visit the Gage Gardens - a 27-acre landscaped garden with ponds , fountains , and a rose garden .