Welcome

The county was named for its location halfway between Fort Worth and El Paso on the Texas and Pacific Railway. Promotions by the Texas and Pacific Railway, which built into the area in 1881, brought sheepmen to what is now Midland County. Nelson Morris, a Chicago meatpacker who bought 200,000 acres from the state for his Black Angus ranch, was the first to fence county land. Cattle were introduced after ranchers discovered that abundant water could be obtained from wells. In 1885, when 300 people were living in the area, the Texas state legislature established Midland County from lands previously assigned to Tom Green County, and the county was organized later that same year. The town of Midland, originally named Midway to suggest its place on the Fort Worth-El Paso rail line, became county seat. [Handbook of Texas Online]

Resources

On-Site

Cemeteries Census Records Families Local Information Lookups Military Records Obituaries Photographs Surnames Surrounding Counties

Off-Site

Midland Archives Other TXGenWeb Counties Portal to Texas History Query Board

Communities

(g) - ghost town
Chub
Cotton Flat
Dameron City (g)
Germania (g)
Greenwood
Midkiff (g)
Midland
Odessa
Pleasant Valley (g)
Prairie Lee (g)
Slaughter (g)
Spraberry
Terminal
Valley View
Warfield