Brownfield

History

In 1903, town promoters W. G. Hardin and A. F. Small purchased the county's central lot, platted the site, and named the town after the Brownfield ranching family. To boost chances of becoming the county seat, they granted a lot to every county voter. The town's early years saw the construction of essential structures, including the courthouse, school, and churches. Hill's Hotel became the first business, housing the inaugural post office. On June 28, 1904, Brownfield secured the county seat designation, narrowly defeating Gomez in an election. The Brownfield State Bank opened in 1905, serving multiple counties and parts of eastern New Mexico.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, Brownfield has an area of , 0.32% of which is covered by water. Brownfield lies in the center of Terry County, in the southern portion of the South Plains and Llano Estacado. The city rests on a windblown deposit called the Blackwater Draw Formation, which is underlain by a thick layer of caliche, referred to locally as the "caprock". Beneath the caliche layer lies fluvial deposits called the Ogallala Formation, which contains a portion of the Ogallala Aquifer. The Caprock Escarpment, about 50 miles east, forms a precipitous drop of about and exposes various geologic layers. In early days, climbing the Caprock Escarpment was not easy for horse-drawn covered wagons. The only terrain variation lies at the south end of the city, where Lost Draw carves a channel that runs across the entire county. Lost Draw formed over 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age, when the climate of the area was much wetter. When the vast glaciers of the north retreated, they left numerous dry river channels crisscrossing the Llano Estacado. When settlers during the 1800s ventured across this area, they often went into these channels expecting to find water, but unless significant rains had occurred recently, their search was in vain, with many of the parties becoming "lost", hence the name, Lost Draw. The most notable geographic feature of Brownfield is its red soil. The soil creates an almost iridescent red color during sunrise and sunset due to the high iron oxide content.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  235
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  211
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  184
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  121
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  100
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  100
• Western Kingbird

  Tyrannus verticalis Say, 1823 · Aves
  96
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  90

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2026-07-04
  36 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
• M 2.7 — 2026-05-10
  32 km SSW of Los Ybanez, Texas
• M 3 — 2026-02-21
  37 km SSW of Lamesa, Texas
• M 3.1 — 2026-02-19
  3 km NNW of Denver City, Texas
• M 2.6 — 2025-12-05
  38 km NW of Stanton, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2025-11-09
  36 km ENE of McKinney Acres, Texas