During the 19th century, the land had been occupied solely by Comanche and Mexican Comancheros, traders who had a thriving business with the Plains Indians.

In October 1875, Lt. Bullis, who commanded the 24th Infantry Regiment, encountered a large group of Indians at Cedar Lake.

Then, Col. Shafter established a camp at Cedar Lake and continued to scout the area as far south as the Pecos River.

The foreman, Dave Ernest, sold the ranch to a merchant from San Antonio, who used the land for driving cattle towards Kansas.

In 1912, a small post office opened up east of Seminole that was named after a local ranch brand that would later become Loop, Texas.

A large population addition to Gaines County came in 1977, when a group of Mennonites arrived to start farming and ranching.

[5] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,503 square miles (3,890 km2), of which 0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2) (0.03%) is covered by water.

The county is served by a twice-a-week newspaper publication, the Seminole Sentinel, as well as local radio stations KIKZ (AM) and KSEM-FM.

The portion of the county in Seminole ISD is assigned to the Odessa College service area.