Runnels County, Texas: History
The original inhabitants of the area were the Jumano, followed by the Comanche. In 1683–84, Juan Domínguez de Mendoza established a short-lived mission.
Fort Chadbourne was established in 1852, as part of a chain of forts in West Texas.
Runnels County was formed from Bexar and Travis Counties. It was named in honor of Hiram G. Runnels. Runnels City was the original county seat.
In 1862, Pickettville was established by Mr. and Mrs. John Guest and their three sons, Henry and Robert K. Wylie and their cowboys and a black servant, and Mrs. Felicia Gordon and her five sons. Ballinger was settled by Richard Coffey and family.
The county was organized in 1880, with a population of 980. Ballinger, namesake of William Pitt Ballinger, was selected as the new county seat eight years later. The stone county courthouse was erected in the Second Empire style soon after (1889). Architect Eugene T. Heiner designed the building.
In 1899, the community of Pumphrey, originally named New Hope, was established by William M. Pumphrey. The Santa Fe Depot was built in 1911 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The Ballinger Carnegie Library in Ballinger was dedicated. The Charles H. Noyes statue on the Ballinger Courthouse lawn, dedicated to the "Spirit of the Texas Cowboy", was sculpted by Pompeo Coppini in 1919.
The MacMillan oil field was discovered near Ballinger in 1927. Eighteen new oil fields were explored by 1949.