Founded in 1917 and incorporated in 1921, Spearman was named for Thomas C. Spearman, a vice-president and head of the Land Department of the Santa Fe Railway. The Santa Fe line reached Spearman in 1920, making it the first railroad shipping point in Hansford County. Hansford County, created in 1876 and organized in 1889, moved its county seat there in 1929, and the courthouse was built in 1931. Spearman became a center for agriculture, wheat storage, ranching, and the petroleum industry, and growth in the early 1960's included 25 new businesses in two years. Its brick-paved streets made the city distinctive.