COUNTY ORGANIZED: 1891

COUNTY NAMED FOR: Rufus K. and Oliver C. Hartley.

COUNTY SEATS: Two - Hartley and Channing.

COUNTY SEAT NAMED FOR: The town derived its original name, Rivers, from George Channing Rivers, paymaster of the railroad when it built through the county in the spring of 1888. Since the name Rivers duplicated that of another Texas town, the name was changed to Channing later that year.

COURTHOUSES: Two - 1891 and 1906. When Channing was elected county seat in 1903, the wooden frame courthouse of 1891 was mounted on wheels and moved from Hartley to Channing.

STANDING: One - 1906 Texas Renaissance courthouse built of brick with a 1935 addition