El Campo was established in 1881 as a siding and shipping point on the New York, Texas and Mexican Railroad and was known as Prairie Switch, where cattlemen rounded up their herds for shipping. It also served as a station for railroad construction gangs, whose workers frequently called it The Camp, and the name was officially changed to El Campo in 1890. The town was laid out by the railroad rather than by the compass, with two main streets crossing each other north of the tracks. In the 1890's, herds of cattle were bedded down on the site now known as Evans Park.