Fort D . A . Russell ( Texas ) Fort D . A . Russell is the name of an American military installation near Marfa , Texas , that was active from 1911 to 1946 . Its namesake is David Allen Russell , a Civil War general killed at the Battle of Opequon , September 19 , 1864 . It was established in 1911 as Camp Albert , a base for cavalry and air reconnaissance units sent to protect West Texas from Mexican bandits after the Pancho Villa raid . The base was expanded and renamed Camp Marfa during World War I . In the interwar years , the base became the headquarters for the Marfa Command , which replaced the Big Bend District . In 1924 , a patrol called the Mounted Watchmen was established to deter aliens from crossing the Rio Grande . In 1930 , the base was renamed Fort D . A . Russell . The name had been used on a previous military base in Wyoming ; the name became available when that post was renamed Fort Francis E . Warren . The base was briefly abandoned during the Great Depression . On January 2 , 1933 , the Army closed the post , and reactivated it in 1935 as the home base of the Seventy - seventh Field Artillery . During World War II , the post was expanded and used as an air base , a base for a WAC unit , a training facility for Chemical mortar battalion s , and a base for troops guarding the U . S . - Mexican border . The Marfa Army Airfield was constructed nearby and was used as pilot training facility . German prisoners of war were also housed in a camp on the base . In 1945 , shortly after the end of World War II , the fort was closed during America ' s demobilization . On October 23 , 1946 , the base was transferred to the Corps of Engineers . The Texas National Guard assumed control of the base shortly afterward . In 1949 , most of the base ' s land was divided up and sold to local citizens . In the late 1970s , under the auspices of the Dia Art Foundation , the artist Donald Judd acquired the former fort and began converting the buildings in order to house permanent large - scale art installations . Originally conceived to include works by Judd , John Chamberlain and Dan Flavin , the museum was later expanded to include works by Carl Andre , Ingolfur Arnarrson , Hiroshi Sugimoto , Ilya Kabakov , Roni Horn , Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen , David Rabinowitch , and John Wesley . Judd ' s museum opened to the public in 1986 as the Chinati Foundation . Located at Fort David A . Russell ' s central complex is Building 98 a project of the International Woman ' s Foundation and it is the home of the iconic World War II German POW Murals . The murals were painted by Rommel ' s Afrika Korps officers in the state dining room and in the base library . The building served as the Bachelor Officer Quarters ( BOQ ) and as an entertainment center for West point officers during World War I and the Mexican Revolution . The International Woman ' s Foundation was responsible for placing Fort D . A . Russell on the National registry of historic places , The Foundation has operated an artist in residency program and base museum since 2002 . In 2002 Mona Blocker Garcia took on the task of creating the foundation for mature woman artists and healthful aging thus preserving the important history of Fort D . A . Russell to its exact state when the fort closed .