County history
How Haskell County got its name and county seat
Haskell County was created by the Texas Legislature in 1858 but not organized until 1885, when the county seat was named for a soldier who died at Goliad in 1836.
The Texas Legislature created Haskell County in 1858, but early settlement was slow. The county was formally organized in January 1885. At that time, the county seat was established at a small community then called Rice Springs. The settlement was renamed Haskell — after Charles Ready Haskell, a soldier in the Texas Revolution who was killed at the Goliad Massacre in 1836.
Ranching drove the early economy. By 1890, the county held over 5,500 cattle. Cotton farming expanded rapidly after railroads arrived in the early 1900s. Citizens raised $120,000 to help bring the Colorado and Southern Railroad through, connecting local farmers to national markets. Cotton acreage exceeded 75,000 acres by 1910 and topped 200,000 by 1930.
The county's population peaked at about 16,669 in 1930 during the cotton boom, then fell sharply through the Depression and Dust Bowl. Oil production, which began in 1929 and grew after World War II, helped stabilize the economy. As of 2019, Haskell County had about 5,658 residents. The county courthouse still sits in the city of Haskell.
Source to confirm: TSHA Handbook — Haskell County