Bailey County, Texas: History
In 1876, the Texas Legislature established Bailey County from portions of Bexar County, naming it for Peter James Bailey, a defender of the Alamo. (See List of Texas county name etymologies.) The county organized in 1919.
Bailey County history is highlighted in the Muleshoe Heritage Center located off U.S. Highways 70 and 84 in Muleshoe. The Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge was founded in 1935 and is the oldest such refuge in Texas.
Bailey County once was one of 30 prohibition or entirely dry counties in Texas, but is now a wet county.