Moore County has been home to two courthouses, the first of which sold for a mere $175. J.B. Girand was paid $20 to design the first temple of justice, a two-story frame building that cost $5,083. Completed in 1893, the Moore County Courthouse was outgrown by 1930.
Amarillo architects Berry and Hatch designed the second county capitol, a three-story, Moderne brick structure completed in 1931 for $155,000. Air conditioning was added in the 1960s, and an $850,000 law enforcement and tax complex was added in 1981. The courthouse, which stands on the square in the county seat of Dumas, is adorned with ornate eagles.
Moore County, named in honor of Edwin W. Moore, commodore of the Texas Navy, was organized in 1892 with a population of 15. Eight years later, the county boasted 209 residents.
The county seat was named for the president of the land company that founded the city, Louis Dumas.
The Window on the Plains Museum, originally known as the Moore County Historical Museum, opened in 1976. The facility was housed in the ballroom of a landmark hotel until 2001, when it was moved to its permanent home and renamed.
The Art Center opened in 2004 as a neighbor to the Windows on the Plains Museum. The joining of the two has made a pleasant stop in Dumas to view art and history and enjoy the best of Texas. The Art Center features the works of area artists in exhibits that change on a monthly basis.
Ranchers began moving into the area in 1876 after the Texas Legislature formed Moore County from lands formerly assigned to Bexar County. Ranching dominated the economy until the 1920s, when farming began to develop significantly. The agricultural economy continued to expand, even during the Great Depression; almost 90,600 acres of cropland were harvested in Moore County by 1940.
The county’s complexion changed dramatically in the mid-1920s thanks to large-scale commercial oil and gas production, which took off in 1927. The new petroleum industry resulted in a population spike. In fact, the growth and coexistence of ranching, farming, and the oil and gas industry attracted a steady stream of newcomers throughout the mid-1900s.
Today, the Moore County economy continues to be supported by the production of natural gas, extensive petroleum operations, and varied agribusinesses.
One of the county’s claims to fame is Dogie Days. Each year beginning on the second Wednesday in June the Lions Club produces an event inspired by the popular song of the late 1940s, “I’m A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas.”