History

Gaines County, TX, founded in 1876, is an area of 1590 square miles, which includes the town of Seminole. Settlers that came in the early 1900s suffered many hardships in trying to make this countryside their home. Housing was a major problem, as lumber had to be hauled by freight wagons from Stanton, Midland, or Big Spring, through deep sandy land.

The first industry to support Gaines County was the cattle business. Ranching utilized the vast acres of natural grassland and the easily obtainable water, accessible by windmills.

Over the years, farming became very important in this sandy, fertile soil. In the late thirties and early forties, the introduction of irrigation and vast underground water supply made faming more profitable. The unique combination of fertile soil, good water, and climate has propelled Gaines County to be the number one producing county of cotton and peanuts in the state of Texas.

The growth and development of this county has also been positively affected by the discovery of oil. It was in 1936 that the Seminole pool was discovered and resulted in one of the larger fields existing in the county today.

All three of our major industries, ranching, farming, and oil production, have taken advantage of the years of progress and offer a firm background to make Seminole and Gaines County a progressive and proud community.

(From the Seminole, Texas Chamber of Commerce)

The county was named for James Gaines, a merchant who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Gaines County covers 1,489 square miles of rolling land.

This page was last updated 15 July, 2009