Seminole

Seminole, the county seat of Gaines County, is at the intersection of U.S. highways 62, 180, and 385, State Highway 214, and Farm Road 181 in central Gaines County. In 1905, prior to the organization of Gaines County, W. B. Austin opened a post office in his store, which was about a mile south of the site of Seminole. The post office was named Caput. Later that year a syndicate of New York investors donated land for the county seat of the newly organized county. The new community was platted and lots went on sale in 1906. Early merchants included Austin, who relocated to the new site, Guy Stark, and W. H. Brennard. In 1906 Seminole post office opened and a wooden courthouse was built. The Seminole Presbyterian Church, built in 190607, served as a meeting place for a number of local denominations and hosted a Union Sunday school. A Methodist church was built in 1908, and a Baptist church followed in 1922. Seminole schools began with a small two-story building erected in 1906 to serve the eastern part of the town, and a second school was built on the west side in 1910. A weekly newspaper, the Seminole Sentinel , started publishing in 1907 and was still in operation in the 1990s. The Seminole National Bank opened in 1906 and was followed by the First State Bank in 1907. Bank robbers got away with more than $3,000 from the Seminole National Bank in 1912. The two banks consolidated as the First State Bank in 1914.