Drawn by the abundant water of Running Water Draw, J. W. and T. W. Morrison established a ranch in 1881 with headquarters about ten miles west of here, and many of the region’s earliest settlers worked for it. Later partners in the operation included cattleman C. C. Slaughter. In 1884 Dennis and Martha S. Rice bought several sections of land along the draw south of this site, and Rice sought to found a town and attract the railroad across his property. He opened the Wadsworth Post Office in his dugout in 1890, and it was renamed Running Water in 1891. Rice then organized the Running Water Townsite and Investment Company and held a picnic and barbecue on July 4, 1892, to sell town lots. The community soon included a blacksmith shop, grist mill, a two-story store building, several residences, churches, and eventually a brick school building to replace the early one-room schoolhouse. Although the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad bypassed Running Water in 1928, the village remained active for several years. In 1935 the post office moved to Edmondson Switch on the railroad, many residents relocated there, and in 1937 the settlement’s name was changed to Edmondson.