Plainview

Plainview, the county seat of Hale County, is on Runningwater Draw at the intersection of Interstate Highway 27, U.S. highways 87 and 70, State Highway 194, and numerous local roads, forty-seven miles north of Lubbock and seventy-six miles south of Amarillo in the northeast section of the county. The Burlington Northern and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads serve the city. The elevation is 3,366 feet above sea level. In 1886 Z. T. Maxwell moved with his family and 2,000 sheep from Floyd County and established a farm in what is now northeast Hale County. About the same time Edwin Lowden Lowe from Tennessee took up residence north of the Maxwell homestead. Enticed by the possibility of founding a town, Maxwell and Lowe secured a post office on March 18, 1887. The names Runningwater and Hackberry Grove were rejected in favor of Plainview (Lowe's choice), since a vast treeless plain surrounded the post office. The town received a charter on July 3, 1888. Plainview became the county seat when Hale County was organized in August of 1888, despite moderate competition from Hale Center. The first courthouse was soon completed, at a cost of $2,500. Read more at TSHA