History

Callahan County was created in 1858 from Bexar, Bosque and Travis Counties. The name of Callahan was selected in honor of James Hughes Callahan, a survivor of the Goliad Massacre and leader of the Callahan Expedition who died in 1856. The first white settlers, the Hart family, came into this area in 1863 and by the spring of 1877 there were enough settlers to request that the county be organized. The Commissioners Court of Eastland County granted permission and the first election of the county was held July 3, 1877. Callahan City was the first county seat of the county but after a heated campaign and controversy the town of Belle Plain became the county seat. After the arrival of the Texas & Pacific Railroad in the new town of Baird once again an election was held and in 1883 Baird became the county seat. Early Post Offices in Callahan County were: Shaw's Ranch, Callahan, Cross Plains, Deep Creek, East Caddo Peak, Caddo Peak, Belle Plain, Tomato, Annadale, Eagle Cove, Clyde, Rough Creek, Tecumseh, Hill, Cat Claw/ Putnam, Gould City/Vickery/Baird, Rowden, Oplin, Eula, Dressy, Atwell, Dudley, Land, Pueblo, Lander, Chatauqua, Toro, Cottonwood, Knob View, Admiral and Burnham. Early communities were: Admiral, Atwell, Baird, Bayou, Belle Plain, Cedar Bluff, Clyde, Cottonwood, Cross Plains, Denton Valley, Dudley, Eula, Midway, Oplin, Putnam, Rowden, and Tecumseh. Main towns in Callahan County are: Baird, Clyde, Cross Plains and Putnam with the communities of Eula, Cottonwood, Oplin, Denton Valley. Callahan County has had two colleges: The Belle Plain College started in 1881