Major historic routes crossed Cooke County — and shaped Gainesville

Gainesville sits just seven miles south of the Red River and the Oklahoma border. That spot made it a natural place to cross. In the 1850s, the Butterfield Overland Mail ran a route through the area. After the Civil War, cowboys drove cattle north to Kansas through Gainesville on a branch of the Chisholm Trail. Gainesville became a supply stop for those cattle drives.

The cattle trade drove Gainesville's early growth. Then two railroads came to town. The Santa Fe arrived in 1886. The Gainesville, Henrietta and Western arrived in 1887. Those railroads locked in Gainesville as the main hub of the county. That history is why Gainesville grew where it did and became the county seat.