Comanche

Comanche is located in the central part of Comanche County on U.S. highways 67 and 377. It was established in 1858, when John Duncan offered the county 240 acres on Indian Creek as a site for a county seat. The commissioners' court accepted the donation, and Ransom Tuggle was authorized to lay out the townsite. T. J. Nabors built the first house. The new town replaced Cora as county seat in May 1859. The first courthouse was a picket house?a structure of logs cut and split on the ground, set vertically in a ditch, and covered with boards also made on the ground. A post office was established in 1860. A newspaper, the Comanche Chief, began publication in 1873. The town, a supply base for Texas ranches during its early history, was incorporated in 1873. By 1892 Comanche had 2,500 residents, the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway, a daily stage, and numerous businesses. By 1915 the population was 4,500, and the town was a flourishing farm-market center and transportation center.

Courtesy The Handbook of Texas Online