Gaines County, Texas
| Gaines County, Texas | |
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The Gaines County Courthouse in Seminole
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 Location in the U.S. state of Texas |
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 Texas's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1905 |
| Seat | Seminole |
| Largest city | Seminole |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,503 sq mi (3,893 km2) |
| • Land | 1,502 sq mi (3,890 km2) |
| • Water | 0.5 sq mi (1 km2), 0.03% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 17,526 |
| • Density | 12/sq mi (5/km²) |
| Congressional district | 19th |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website | www |
Gaines County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 17,526. The county seat is Seminole.
Named for James Gaines, a merchant who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence and was born in Culpeper County, Virginia in 1779. The land was occupied purely by wild Comanche and Mexican Comancheros, traders who had a thriving business with the Plains Indians. In October 1875, Lt. Bullis who commanded the 24th Infantry encountered a large group of Indians at Cedar Lake. Lt. Bullis took over the Indians for food, supplies, buffalo hides, and utensils. It was then that Col. Shafter established a camp at Cedar Lake and continued to scout the area as far south as the Pecos River. That November he came across a draw where he found a water development. He discovered over 70 wells that reached levels 4 to 15 feet deep. This area became a regular place to trade goods.
In 1887 the northern part of the county was occupied by the Mallet Ranch. The foreman, Dave Ernest sold the ranch to a merchant from San Antonio who used the land for driving cattle towards Kansas. On October 24, 1905 Gaines County became an organized county in Texas. Land was donated by non-resident land owners which would become the town of Seminole, Texas, the county seat. In 1912 a small post office opened up east of Seminole that was named after a local ranch brand that would later become Loop, Texas. In 1917 the Santa Fe Railroad came through Blythe, Texas, but its name was changed to Seagraves, Texas after the company discovered they had a town by the same name already located on the line.
A great addition to Gaines County came in 1977 when a group of Mennonite people arrived to start farming and ranching. In 2005 Gaines County became the number one Oil producing, Cotton producing, and Peanut producing county in Texas.
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