[4] It is named for Nicholas Mosby Dawson,[5] a soldier of the Texas Revolution.

Dawson County comprises the Lamesa, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA), and it is, by population, the smallest Micropolitan Statistical Area in the United States.

In 1943, the discovery well for the Spraberry Trend, the third-largest oil field in the United States by remaining reserves,[6] was drilled in Dawson County on land owned by farmer Abner Spraberry, for whom the geological formation and associated field were named.

Production on the field did not begin until 1949, and by 1951, an oil boom was underway in the area, with Midland at its center.

[8] As of the census[14] of 2000, 14,985 people, 4,726 households, and 3,501 families resided in the county.

About 23.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.