Moore County was created in 1876 from the Bexar Land District and named in honor of Edwin W. Moore (1810-1865), Commodore of the Navy of the Republic of Texas. The county was organized on July 5, 1892, with Dumas, named for a promoter of the townsite, as county seat. In its early days, stagecoach and freighters furnished transportation. The county was thinly settled, and ranching was the main industry before discoveries of oil and gas in 1926. A zinc smelter was built in 1936. The economy is now based on petrochemicals, helium, oil, gas, cattle feeding, beef packing, ranching, grains, soybeans, and corn.