Pioneers mainly from the Old South settled here on the Aaron Boyce land grant in the 1860s and 70s. They had a school, and held church services, at Gum Springs in the 1880s. In 1888 a post office opened at Taylor's Gin Store; this was renamed in 1898 for Mrs. Henry D. Briggs, an early settler. On April 12, 1906, a tornado destroyed much of the village. Afterward Briggs was rebuilt on a platted townsite; it thrived from 1906 to 1920, but began declining after a 1928 fire. Many of the townspeople have worked since 1950 at Fort Hood, in neighboring Bell County.