The Founding of Bailey County

Bailey County was created Aug. 21, 1876, and named for Peter James Bailey, a Kentucky lawyer killed at the Alamo during the Texas War for Independence. This was thinly settled cattle country; Bailey was attached for judicial purposes to Baylor County in 1876-1891, and to Castro County, 1892-1918. In Nov. 1918, Bailey County was finally organized. Its first officials were W. M. Wilterding, judge; H. A. Douglass, sheriff and tax assessor-collector; C. C. Mardis, clerk; G. P. Kuykendall, treasurer; E. G. Hoskins, inspector of hides and animals; J. B. Diggs, T. L. Snyder, C. E. Dotson and John S. McMurtry, commissioners. At the first meeting of the commissioners court, in Blackwater Valley State Bank on Jan. 16, 1919, C. D. Gupton was appointed justice of the peace. Muleshoe was designated county seat in a special election, April 12, 1919. A jail cell was purchased in June 1919 from neighboring Parmer County. In July a building contract was let for first courthouse -- a frame structure soon erected at a cost of $2,450. Since institution of its government, this 832 sq. mi. county, with its good water resources, has developed an outstanding agricultural economy. Its progress is a tribute to the standards of its pioneer settlers. (1968)

The Founding of Bailey County is a historical marker in Muleshoe, Bailey County, dedicated in 1968. It is one of 10 historical markers documented in Bailey County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 13 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 34.2243, -102.7259 near Muleshoe. The nearest cataloged historic site is Bailey County Courthouse (courthouse), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include The Mule, Bailey County, and Old Hurley.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5017005337. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.