Native Americans and early settlers were drawn to this area by its climate and resources. Originally named Clough after George W. Clough, who in 1868 purchased the 640-acre Harvey Randolf Survey, the community developed on the northwest corner of his land, which became most of old downtown Ben Wheeler. Clough established a post office in his home in 1876 and served as the first postmaster. The post office was named Ben Wheeler in honor of Kentucky native Benjamin F. Wheeler, who came to Texas in 1847, contracted to carry mail from Tyler to Buffalo, and became the first person to carry mail into Van Zandt County. In the early 1880s, George Clough received permission to move the post office to his store in town, but its name remained Ben Wheeler because Georgetown was already in use elsewhere. In 1885, Ancel Clough sold 50 acres to Professor James F. Davidson, and in 1890 Davidson and J.W. Downs established the Alamo Institute, the first school of higher learning in Van Zandt County. From 1885 to 1892 the town grew rapidly, with general stores, grocery stores, a drug store, boarding houses, a hotel, gins and mills, a blacksmith and woodworking shop, two churches, and the Alamo Institute. Fires in 1893, 1933, and 1945 destroyed downtown businesses. Growth began to decline in 1929, but stabilized in the 1960s as local farmers shifted to ranching and coastal Bermuda hay operations.