This was our 223rd Courthouse in Texas to visit. That means we are at 87.8% of our goal with 12.2% left to go.

The county’s first resident settled the area in 1876.

When the county was organized in 1890, Wellington had a rival for county seat. Only two miles from Wellington, Pearl City was thought to be a shoe-in.

The management of the Rocking Chair Ranch urged their employees to join the Wellington camp. The strange name was in honor of the Duke of Wellington. (A distant relation of a Rocking Chair Ranch partner was present at the Battle of Waterloo.) Voters in the county were offered free town lots if they voted for Wellington. Hardly anyone was surprised when Wellington defeated Pearl City.

Wellington got a saloon (moved from Pearl City) and a post office (mail via Memphis) in the same year of 1891. The county voted dry in 1898, eliminating the saloon.

Cotton replaced cattle as the major economic influence and the town had 600 people when the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway came through in 1910.

The arrival of the Fort Worth and Denver Northern Railway occurred while the new courthouse was being constructed in 1931 and further improvements in the city’s infrastructure resulted in an increased population.