Pearsall

Pearsall, the county seat of Frio County, is on Interstate Highway 35 and the Missouri Pacific Railroad fifty-five miles southwest of San Antonio in the central part of the county. In the 1870s wagon trains stopped at a well on a large sheep ranch when they traveled the road from Frio Town to Pleasanton; this well was known as Waggoner's (Wagner's) Well. On February 6, 1882, the International-Great Northern Railroad gained control of 2,000 acres of land around the well. An affiliate, the New York and Texas Land Company, allowed them to circumvent Texas laws limiting railroad ownership of land, and, on February 15, 1882, they platted the townsite of Pearsall, named after the vice president of the railroad, Thomas W. Pearsall, east of the newly laid railroad tracks opposite Waggoner's Well.

A general exodus of people and businesses from Frio Town ensued, and a tent community grew up around the railroad depot. Prospective buyers of town lots arrived on advertised train tours from San Antonio. By 1884 Pearsall was the new county seat of Frio County and had 700 residents, twenty businesses, three hotels, three churches, a district school, and a weekly newspaper known as the Pearsall News.