Pampa Became the County Seat Because of an Oil Boom

Gray County was carved out of the Bexar District in 1876 and named for Peter W. Gray, a lawyer who served the Republic of Texas. Early settlers were ranchers who arrived in the late 1870s. By 1920, the county had fewer than 5,000 people. Then a major oil discovery near Pampa in 1926 changed everything. By 1930, the county's population had jumped to over 22,000.

The town of Pampa was named because the flat grassland reminded settlers of the pampas of Argentina. A railroad station was established there in 1887. The Gray County Courthouse in Pampa, built in 1930, is a four-story Beaux Arts building designed by architect W.R. Kaufman. The Texas Historical Commission restored it in 2003.