Population 2,620
Altitude 2,664
Settled in 1881 by German Catholics, originally named Marienfeld
( field of Mary ), Seat of Martin County, organized in 1884.
The town's name changed in 1890 to honor Abraham Lincoln's Secretary
of War, Edwin M. Stanton. Carmelites opened a monastery in 1882;
the monks left in 1894 and the Sisters of Mercy established a
convent boarding school that educated 2,000 students until most
of the school was destroyed by a tornado in 1938. Abandoned structures
remain on North Convent Street. The city is a cotton, agribusiness,
and oil center.