Dawson County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 12,456. The county seat is Lamesa. The county was created in 1876 and later organized in 1905. It is named for Nicholas Mosby Dawson, a soldier of the Texas Revolution. Dawson County comprises the Lamesa, Texas micropolitan statistical area (μSA), and by population is the smallest μSA in the United States.
History
A Dawson County was founded in 1856 from Kinney County, Maverick County, and Uvalde County, but was divided in 1866 between Kinney and Uvalde Counties. The current Dawson County was founded in 1876.
In 1943, the discovery well for the Spraberry Trend, the third-largest oil field in the United States by remaining reserves, was drilled in Dawson County on land owned by farmer Abner Spraberry, for whom the geological formation and associated field were named. While most of the oil fields are in the counties to the south, a small portion of the Spraberry Trend is in Dawson County. Production on the field did not begin until 1949, and by 1951, an oil boom was underway in the area, with Midland at its center.
Like all Texas counties as stipulated in the Texas Constitution of 1876, Dawson County has four commissioners chosen by single-member district and a countywide-elected county judge, the chief administrator of the county.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which (0.2%) are covered by water.
Major highways
- 20px U.S. Highway 87
- 25px U.S. Highway 180
- 20px State Highway 83
- 20px State Highway 137
Adjacent counties
- Lynn County (north)
- Borden County (east)
- Howard County (southeast)
- Martin County (south)
- Gaines County (west)
- Terry County (northwest)