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SEMINOLE, TEXAS
Gaines County
Seat, Texas Panhandle
32° 43' 7" N, 102° 39' 0" W (32.718611, -102.65)
Hwy 385
40 miles S of Brownfield
63 miles N of Odessa
25 miles E of the New Mexico state line on Hwy 180
ZIP code 79360
Area code 432
Population: 7,815 Est.(2019)
6,430 (2010) 5,910 (2000) 6,342 (1990)
Seminole, Texas Area Hotels › Seminole
Hotels |
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History in
a Pecan Shell
Named after local
Indian watering holes.
County named after signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence
James Gaines.
Seminole was made the County Seat of Gaines
County when it was organized in 1905. However Seagraves
was the county's most populated town until 1950.
The first bank was opened in 1906. Bank robbers didn't find out about
it until 1912. As soon as they did they robbed it. In 1914 the population
was about 300 people.
For five years Seminole enjoyed a rail connection to Midland.
This proved unprofitable in 1923 and the railroad (The Midland and
Northwestern) suspended operations. The same year, Seminole had their
worst fire, destroying a good portion of downtown.
Several of our sources point out the size of the Seminole School District.
The Handbook of Texas says that it served 370 students over
an area of 753 square miles. The Texas State Travel Guide says
that it's 1,149 square miles, but has no figures on the number of
students.
Seminole
Vintage Photos › |
Historical Marker
(Location: US 180 and Hwy 214)
SEMINOLE
Founded and designated
county seat in 1905, same year county was organized. Took name from
Seminole wells, Indian watering places to south and west. First store
and post office were established in 1905 by W. B. Austin of nearby
Caput. The courthouse
was built in 1906. Seminole grew slowly, being chiefly important as
a trading center. Arrival of the Midland and Northwestern Railroad
(1918) and development of highways and oil resources all helped seed
the town's later expansion. Today it is a business center for farming
and petroleum industry.
1970 |
Seminole, Texas
Landmarks/Attractions
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Gaines
County Courthouse › next page
The Gaines County Museum
Located at 700 Hobbs Highway US 180)
Hours: Monday through Friday 8 to 5 with 12 to 1 reserved for lunch. |
"My Grandfather,
W.H. Brennand had a general Store in Seminole in 1909. This is a photo
of main street Seminole at that time."
(Cick on photo for larger image)
Photo courtesy Ann Brennand Martin Williams |
Main street
Seminole. "The Victorian House near the center of the picture
was the Brennand Home."
- Ann
Brennand Martin Williams |
Brennand Home
Photo courtesy Ann Brennand Martin Williams |
"This is
a photo of my Aunt, Annie Lou Brennand in a car with the Ramsey Family.
Taken in front of the Stark Store about 1910"
- Ann Brennand Martin Williams |
"My Grandfather,
W. H. Brennand who had the store."
- Ann Brennand Martin Williams |
The razed Tower
Theater
Photo
courtesy Billy Smith, July 1988
More Texas Theatres |
1907 Gaines
County postal map showing Seminole
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
Seminole, Texas
Forum
Subject:
Seminole, Texas 1911: "...drovs of antilops and perriary chickens
and heaps of wolves and perriary dogs."
I live in Mayfield, Kentucky, but was raised in Northwest Tennessee
not too far from Reelfoot Lake. Recently I had to put my Dad in
a nursing home and I have been going through his possessions and
I found two letters that were written to my Great Grandmother, Hallie
Carpenter Posey, in 1910 and 1911 from a friend in Seminole, Texas.
Evidently the friend had once lived in the area and had moved to
Seminole.
However, my Great Grandmother was from Scottsville, Ky and it could
have been that they were friends there. My Great Grandmother's folks
got burned out in the Scottsville area during the Civil War and
I have records showing her being in Northwest Tennessee around 1871.
She was born in 1850 and passed away at the age of 99 in 1949 there
in Northwest Tennessee. Her friend, Mrs. Lettie Abshure wrote some
very long letters to her during this time and described Seminole
in detail. Please find [the following]
excerpts from the letters and let me know if anyone may know
of her.
The excerpts are copied exactly
as written and provide some insight into the language, spelling
and history of the times. If I can be of further service, do not
hesitate to contact me. - Kenneth M. Smith, Mayfield, Kentucky,
November 15, 2006. See excerpts
from the letters.
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Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
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