County Name
Dickens County Is Named for a Man Who Died at the Alamo
The county and its seat are both named for J. Dickens, a soldier who died at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
Texas created Dickens County in 1876, taking the land from what was then Bexar County, but the county was not politically organized until 1891. The county is named for J. Dickens, who fell at the Alamo. The town of Dickens replaced Espuela as the county seat in 1892 after a local election.
For most of the late 1800s, the area remained sparsely settled. Huge ranches — the Spur, Pitchfork, and Matador — occupied most of the land. Permanent farming settlement did not take hold until after 1900, when ranches began selling off land and railroads reached the area. Dickens (the town) remains small today, with a population of about 219 as of the 2020 census, but it still serves as the county seat and home of county government offices.
Source to confirm: Handbook of Texas — Dickens County