In 2012, Estelline was ranked #1 in a National Motorists Association listing of its "Worst Speed Trap Cities" in North America (with a population of less than 50,000).

It was on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway and was named for Estelle de Shields, daughter of an early settler.

A post office was opened in May 1892, and by 1894 Estelline had two hotels, a Methodist church, a cotton gin, a livery stable, and a one-room schoolhouse.

Tom Macy opened the first store, and soon afterward T. R. Garrott established the Estelline Supply Company.

In 1894 Math Wright obtained a depot and sidetrack for his town, and throughout the remainder of the decade Estelline was an important shipping point on the Fort Worth and Denver City line.

In 1896 the Mill Iron Ranch bought the Estelline Supply Company and opened a large general merchandise store and lumberyard with R. L. Biggerstaff as manager.

[6] The 1920s saw the erection of permanent brick school facilities, the emergence of a champion basketball team, and the organization of a town band conducted by Paul James.

Subsequent improvements in highway transportation led to an overall decline in Estelline's importance as a railroad junction town.

[5] Estelline has a reputation for being a prominent Texas speed trap and relies on speeders to pay its bills.

[13][14][15][16] In September 2013, a federal suit was filed by Laura Dutton, alleging that the cities of Estelline and Memphis, former Officer Jayson Fry and Memphis Police Chief Chris Jolly violated her Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure when she was arrested November 28, 2012, in Estelline on a felony money laundering charge, seizing more than $29,000 from her pickup and keeping $1,400 of her cash.

The city maintained no written records of past searches or seizures, yet traffic fines and forfeitures made up more than 89 percent of its gross revenues in fiscal year 2012.

[16][17][18] Estelline Chief of Police Duwayne Marcolesco surrendered his peace officer license after being charged with official oppression, stemming from an incident on February 9, 2015.

[19][20][21] On the night of June 1, 2017, Estelline Police Chief Leigh Weiser was arrested for alleged sexual activity with a person in custody, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Weiser was arraigned on a charge of violation of civil rights of person in custody, by improper sexual activity, as defined by the Article 39.04 Texas Penal Code.

[22][23][24] Weiser was indicted by Childress County in November 2017 and his peace officer status was revoked in June, 2018.

[27] According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2), all land.

[30][31] On March 10, 2007, a brief, non-mesocyclonic tornado embedded inside a downburst completely collapsed two old brick buildings, blew in doors and windows, and destroyed a mobile home in the area.

As defined by the Texas Legislature, the official service area of Clarendon College is Armstrong, Briscoe, Childress, Collingsworth, Donley, Gray, Hall, and Wheeler counties.

A Republican, Thornberry represented Texas's 13th congressional district, a GOP stronghold which stretches between the Oklahoma and New Mexico borders.

[5][7][41] In 2012, Estelline was ranked #1 in a National Motorists Association listing of its "Worst Speed Trap Cities" in North America (with a population of less than 50,000).

[7][16] A 2013 civil rights case revealed that 89 percent of Estelline's 2012 gross revenue came from asset forfeiture.