Roberts County was created on August 21, 1876, by the Texas Legislature but remained unorganized because it had only one settler that year, and its population in 1880 was 32. Settlement increased after the Santa Fe Railroad was built across the area in 1887. A January 1889 election to organize the county was invalidated because of fraudulent voting, yet the disqualified officers opened a courthouse in a vacant store in Miami, 20 miles southeast, which the contested election had named the county seat, and placed the records in a heavy safe. The legally elected authorities later recovered the records by hiring a gunman to impersonate a landowner and seize the safe when it was opened. The safe was hauled to the legal county seat near this site, set on blocks, and a two-story frame courthouse was built around it. The town, first known as Bennett and then Oran, was renamed Parnell when the U.S. Post Office opened in March 1890. Parnell had a few businesses, about 12 residences, a school, and a saloon, and people rode 25 to 30 miles to attend dances in the courthouse. Those attending court in Parnell had to camp out because the hotel was small. Miami became county seat in 1898, and Parnell was abandoned.