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The Clark Hotel, also known as the Cox Building, was constructed in stages between 1901 and 1929. The lower part of the building was home to almost every business in town. Originally built to provide office space, the edifice has housed a wide variety of activities including retail, governmental, saloon, and boarding. The building served as the nucleus of Van Horn, housing a kaleidoscope of activities ranging from governmental agencies to entertainment and vices.

When Culberson County was established in April 1911 and Van Horn was voted as the county seat, the commissioners' court and other county officers occupied part of the structure as a courthouse, since it was the only structure large enough for that purpose. In 1918, Fred Clark, Sr. purchased the building and converted it into a hotel with a cafe. After 1968, the hotel remained closed except for the Post Office, which moved on December 2, 1978, leaving it vacant.

In 1971, the building received a Historical Marker from the Texas Historical Commission. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. 

On March 7, 1979, the Culberson County Historical Society purchased the building. The museum was moved from the Honeycutt House and officially opened on May 25, 1980, as the Clark Hotel Museum.

Today, the Clark Hotel Museum displays Native American artifacts, fossils, an old mining cart, and historic rooms like the kitchen, parlor, and lobby, reflecting Far West Texas’s rich past.