Located on the Rolling Plains of North Central Texas, in the former hunting grounds of nomadic Kiowa and Comanche bands, Stamford was established in 1899. Texas-born, New York City bankers Eric P. and Swen A. Swenson donated 640 acres of land for a town site after they persuaded Texas Central Railway’s president, Henry K. McHarg, to route the railroad through their ranch formed in 1882 on land their father, Swedish immigrant Swen Magnus Swenson, acquired in 1854. The Swensons named the town after Stamford, Connecticut, where McHarg lived.
Stamford grew quickly, supported by a broad economic base, with modest oil production after 1935. In 1940, the city purchased a section of land from SMS Ranches southeast of town for the construction of Arledge Field to facilitate wartime training of air cadets. Arledge Field reverted to civilian use in 1947.
Stamford’s buildings and its town character have changed little since the 1930s. Stamford’s plan is a grid focused on a central public square, which is occupied by the U.S. Post Office (SB1). Beaux-Arts classicism established the predominant architectural character of downtown. The Texas Cowboy Reunion, established by local business leaders in 1930 and held for five days over the Fourth of July, is a gathering of working cowboys, not professional rodeo stars, preserving the heritage and traditions of the West Texas cowboy.
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