Gaines

Formed August 21, 1876 (190^th county)

Gaines County (21,599), Seminole (7,034)

West Texas Modern courthouse is the descriptive of the concrete and tan brick building built in 1922.  On the square at the intersection of United States Highways 180 and 385, this is the third courthouse in Seminole since the county’s founding on August 21, 1876 (the first built in 1906.)  Sanquist and Staats designed the original facility which was remodeled and enlarged in 1955.  The county was taken from Bexar County as the 190^th county.  Gaines County is named for James Gaines, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.  Gainesville, in Cooke County, got its name from a different person.  Seminole was named for some local water holes, Seminole Wells.  The source for the name of the wells probably can be traced to the Seminole Native Americans. 

The area of the county is 1502 square miles.  It is 19 out of 254 in the state.  It ranks 109 out of 254 in population in the state.  It has a density of 14.4 persons per square mile making it 152 out of 254 in the state.  Gaines County has 42.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 62 comes in from the north, Terry County, and goes out to the west, New Mexico.  United States 160 Highway enters from Dawson County on the east, joins United States Highway 62 in Seminole, and exits to New Mexico.  United States Highway 385 comes with United States Highway 62 from Terry County, north, splits at Seminole, and goes south into Andrews County.  The county is rectangle shaped with a western border with New Mexico.  Seminole is near bullseye on the center of the county.  Seminole is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 32.6% of the county population. 

Gaines County government consists of a sheriff, a County Judge, and 4 Commissioners.  One District Court Judge serves Gaines, Dawson, Garza, and Lynn counties and One County Court Judge serves Gaines County.  Gaines County is in the panhandle, southwest of Lubbock, Texas, and north of Midland, Texas.  The county center is 4.4 miles North of Seminole.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Terry, Dawson, Martin, and Andrews counties and New Mexico and Yoakum County.