The Texas Legislature created Lipscomb County in 1876 and named it for early Texas statesman Abner Lipscomb. About ten years later, J.W. Arthur settled nearby and built a wood and sod structure that served as a general store and post office called Lipscomb, and the community that grew around it soon became the county seat. By 1887, when infant Fred Mehlhop was buried there, Lipscomb Cemetery had been formally established. His grave is the first marked one, though unmarked graves may be older. Those buried there include the first Lipscomb County judge, Tom Connell, along with other county officials, schoolteachers, ranchers, farmers, and military veterans. An early windmill and storage tank supplied water, and although the community once gathered each year for cleanings and decoration days, Lipscomb County now maintains the cemetery as a link to the area’s early settlers and their efforts to develop the northeastern Texas panhandle in the late 19th century.