Baird became the county seat because of the railroad

Callahan County was organized in 1877. Its first county seat was Callahan City, then Belle Plain. Belle Plain was a real settlement — it had a college, churches, and stores. But when the Texas and Pacific Railway was built through the county in 1880 and 1881, the tracks ran about six miles north of Belle Plain. The railroad chose Baird as its station stop instead. By 1883, county government had moved to Baird. By 1897, only four families still lived in Belle Plain.

The county is named for James Hughes Callahan, a veteran of the Texas Revolution who survived the Goliad Massacre and later led frontier military expeditions. Baird remains the county seat today, and its 1929 courthouse — a classical revival building designed by Voelcker and Dixon of Wichita Falls — still stands on the square.