Stamford Area Newspaper Collection

Stamford, "where the Old West meets the frontier," was founded in 1900, along the Texas Central Railroad on land donated by the sons of Swante Magnus Swenson, who owned the townsite and surrounding area as a part of the Swenson Ranch. The town was named after Stamford, Connecticut, the hometown of H. McHarg, the president of the railroad. The area's first post office opened in December of 1899, and on January 2nd, 1900, the town was incorporated. The first businesses in Stamford opened shortly thereafter, including the first bank, The Bank of Stamford, founded by the “Father of Stamford,” R. L. Penick. The Stamford Carnegie Library was donated to the town in 1909 as a personal gift from Andrew Carnegie, and Stamford was one of the smallest cities chosen to receive funding for a public library from Carnegie. The Stamford Carnegie Library received a Tocker Foundation award to build access to the Stamford Area Newspaper Collection on The Portal to Texas History.