Gaines County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population was 21,598. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

. It gained national attention in 2025 for a major outbreak of measles.

History

The county is named for James Gaines, a merchant who signed the

Texas Declaration of Independence The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and was form ...

and was born in

Culpeper County, Virginia Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is ...

, in 1779. During the 19th century, the land had been occupied solely by

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

and Mexican

Comanchero The Comancheros were a group of 18th- and 19th-century Merchant, traders based in northern and central New Mexico. They made their living by trading with the nomadic Great Plains Native Americans in the United States, Indian tribes in northeaste ...

s, traders who had a thriving business with the

Plains Indians Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nations peoples who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of North ...

. In October 1875, Lt. Bullis, who commanded the

24th Infantry Regiment The 24th Infantry Regiment is a unit of the United States Army, active from 1869 until 1951, and since 1995. Before its original dissolution in 1951, it was primarily made up of African American soldiers. History The 24th Infantry Regiment (on ...

, encountered a large group of Indians at Cedar Lake. Lt. Bullis captured them for food, supplies, utensils, and buffalo hides. Then, Col. Shafter established a camp at Cedar Lake and continued to scout the area as far south as the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...

. That November, he came across a draw, where he discovered more than 70 wells reaching levels 4 to 15 feet deep. This area became a regular place to trade goods. In 1887, the northern part of the county was occupied by the Mallet Ranch. The foreman, Dave Ernest, sold the ranch to a merchant from San Antonio, who used the land for driving cattle towards Kansas. On October 24, 1905, Gaines County became an organized county in Texas. Land donated by nonresident landowners became the town of Seminole, Texas, the county seat. In 1912, a small post office opened up east of Seminole that would later become Loop, Texas, named after a local ranch brand. In 1917, the

Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...

came through Blythe, Texas, but that name was changed to Seagraves after the company discovered they already had a town by the same name located on the line. A large population addition to Gaines County came in 1977 when a group of

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

s arrived to start farming and ranching. In 2005, Gaines County became the number-one oil-producing,

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

-producing, and

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

-producing county in Texas. In early 2025, Gaines county became the epicenter of a

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

outbreak that would spread across Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. By May 30, 2025, the total number of cases in Texas rose to 729, with 408 of those cases being reported in Gaines County. Spreading across 34 additional counties, two deaths of children were reported. Typical of measles outbreaks, the burden of disease is heavier on the unvaccinated and children. This was the highest number of cases in Texas in the last 30 years, surpassing the total number of measles cases in the US in 2024, and the death was the first measles death in the US since 2015. The outbreak has been linked to outbreaks in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. The vaccination exemption rate in Gaines County is among the highest in the state, with nearly one in five incoming kindergarteners in the 2023–2024 class not having received the

MMR vaccine The MMR vaccine is a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (German measles), abbreviated as ''MMR''. The first dose is generally given to children around 9 months to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 15 months to 6 years of age, w ...

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (0.03%) is covered by water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 62 * U.S. Highway 180 * U.S. Highway 385 * State Highway 83 * State Highway 115 * State Highway 214

Adjacent counties

* Yoakum County (north) * Terry County (north) * Dawson County (east) * Martin County (southeast) * Andrews County (south) * Lea County, New Mexico (west)

Demographics

As of the 2020 United States census, 21,598 people, 5,812 households, and 4,545 families resided in the county. As of the 2000

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, 14,467 people, 4,681 households, and 3,754 families were residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . The 5,410 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 80.28% White, 2.28% Black or African American, 0.76% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 14.17% from other races, and 2.35% from two or more races. About 35.77% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. Of the 4,681 households, 45.3% had children under 18 living with them, 67.7% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.8% were not families. About 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.07 and the average family size was 3.53. In the county, the age distribution was 35.0% under 18, 9.50% from 18 to 24, 26.80% from 25 to 44, 18.40% from 45 to 64, and 10.30% who were 65 or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.00 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 94.0 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,432, and for a family was $34,046. Males had a median income of $29,580 versus $16,996 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $13,088. About 17.30% of families and 21.70% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 29.2% of those under 18 and 15.7% of those 65 or over.

Media

The county is served by a twice-a-week newspaper publication, the ''Seminole Sentinel'', as well as local radio stations KIKZ (AM) and KSEM-FM.

Communities

Cities

* Seagraves *

(county seat)

Town

* Denver City (mostly in Yoakum County)

Census-designated place

* Loop

Politics

Education

School districts serving Gaines County include: * Loop Independent School District * Seagraves Independent School District * Seminole Independent School District * Wellman-Union Consolidated Independent School District Most of Gaines County is assigned to South Plains College's service area. The portion of the county in Seminole ISD is assigned to the Odessa College service area.

Notable people

Larry Gatlin Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers are an American country music vocal group. The group consists of lead singer Larry Gatlin (born May 2, 1948) and his brothers, Rudy and Steve Gatlin. The group achieved considerable success within the country ...

, country music singer * Tanya Tucker, country music singer

References

External links

Gaines County government's website
*
''Inventory of county records, Gaines County courthouse, Seminole, Texas''
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History

Gaines County Profile from the Texas Association of Counties
{{Authority control 1905 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1905