Gomez Lost the County Seat by Three Votes but Kept Its Name

Gomez was gathering settlers before Brownfield had a town square. Families began building there in 1902, and landowners platted the town in 1903 near what they believed was Terry County's center. They opened a post office, drilled a public well, and drew merchants and residents to what became the county's earliest inhabited townsite.

For a short time, Gomez looked ready to run the county. It had a general store, saloon, public dance hall, one-room school, and blacksmith shop. Local residents pushed for Terry County to organize, and Gomez entered the 1904 county-seat election against the new town of Brownfield. Brownfield's lot giveaway worked: Gomez lost by three votes.

The railroad later favored Brownfield, and the original Gomez townsite was abandoned in 1918. The name did not disappear with the buildings. A Gomez post office lasted until 1926, a school until 1941, and a church, cemetery, and a few businesses kept the community name in use. A state marker along U.S. 380 now points back toward the old site. Three votes changed the county map, but they did not erase Gomez from local memory.