Located in the north-central part of Texas, Vernon is the county seat of Wilbarger County. Originally, the area was home to the Kiowa and Comanche Indians. The first white settlers came in April 1878. Two years later, on April 23, 1880, Vernon was settled as Eagle Flat, though that name was changed to Vernon on March 27, 1881, because the postal department said there were too many towns in Texas with the word "eagle" in their name. Once the Fort Worth & Denver Railway extended to Vernon, the population began to boom.