According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Dodson has a total area of 0.62 square miles (1.6 km2), all land.

The wealthy entrepreneur Kell was an important figure in promotion of the Wichita Falls and Northwestern Railway, and the city was established as a stop on the Wellington Branch of the railroad.

Elmore Dodson, a local pioneer and rancher, donated the 200-acre (0.81 km2) town site to ensure the railroad's passing through the southeastern part of the county.

The gala celebration, complete with a picnic, marked the town's formal opening, and was attended by a trainload of people from Oklahoma.

R. H. Miller established a hotel, and the town added a bank, a telephone exchange, and two churches.

Three newspapers, all called the Dodsonville News, were published intermittently by three different men between January 1911 and December 1915.

Public Works Administration appropriations enabled the town to install a $52,000 water system during the 1930s, and a volunteer fire department was organized.

In 1947 a new consolidated high school served neighboring communities in Oklahoma as well as Dodson.

The population dropped to 357 in 1940; this decline, attributed to decreased agricultural activity and a renewed interest in cattle raising, continued into the 1990s.

In 1984 Dodson remained the county's second largest town, with a population of 185, one business, and four churches.