Glen Rose grew around mineral springs before dinosaur tracks made it famous

Charles Barnard built the first trading post in the area in 1849. The town that grew up there was eventually named Glen Rose by 1872. Somervell County was created from Hood County in 1875 and named for Alexander Somervell, a Republic of Texas military leader. Glen Rose became the county seat and has held that role ever since.

By the late 1800s, Glen Rose drew visitors for its mineral springs. Hotels and doctors promoted the waters, and the U.S. Geological Survey noted in 1900 that the waters had medicinal value. That health-resort era faded, but a different kind of fame arrived: in 1909 a local boy found dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy River after a flood, and those tracks eventually led to the creation of Dinosaur Valley State Park in 1972. Today the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant — located partly in Somervell County — is one of the county's largest employers. The county covers just 188 square miles, making it one of the smallest counties in Texas by area.