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In 1876 the Texas legislature formed Hall County from land formerly assigned to Bexar and Young Counties. By the late 1880s Hall County found itself on a major regional railroad that eventually changed Hall County from a ranching to a farming area. Promotion by the road brought a small trickle of settlers in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The growing population led residents to debate county organization in 1889, and in April 1890 a petition of organization was circulated. In a hotly fought election on June 17, Salisbury, the county's oldest town and only railroad stop, fought with Lakeview, near the center of the county, and Memphis, a new town on the railroad, for the honor and economic benefits of being county seat. Memphis won the election and was named county seat on June 23; Salisbury vanished by 1893, and Lakeview remained a small trade center with little chance to grow.
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