How Childress Became the County Seat

The county is named for George C. Childress, who wrote the Texas Declaration of Independence. But the land was Comanche territory until the Red River War of 1874. Large cattle ranches moved in first — the OX Ranch arrived in 1879. The county was formally organized only after the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway reached the area in April 1887.

Two towns, Childress City and Henry, competed for the county seat in a contested election. The first election was declared illegal, and Henry won a second vote, but the railroad company agreed to rename the town Childress, and all the businesses moved there by September 1887. In 1901, Childress became a railroad division point. That brought shops, roundhouses, and workers — and the city's population grew to over 5,000 by 1910. Cotton farming also expanded rapidly in the early 1900s before the Dust Bowl years hit hard.