Stephenville is the county seat of Erath County, Texas, situated in the rolling cross-timbers and prairie country of north-central Texas, about seventy miles southwest of Fort Worth. It is the principal city of the Stephenville Micropolitan Statistical Area and the cultural and economic hub of a region long defined by ranching and agriculture. The town was founded in the mid-1850s and takes its name from John M. Stephen, an early settler who patented the land in 1853. Stephenville grew as a market and government center for Erath County, and agriculture became its lifeblood — first cotton and livestock, and later dairying, which remains the area's signature industry. Erath County is Texas's leading milk producer, and Stephenville proudly calls itself both the "Cowboy Capital of the World" and the "Dairy Capital of Texas." The arrival of higher education transformed the town. John Tarleton Agricultural College was established in 1917 as a branch of Texas A&M, and it evolved into Tarleton State University, a founding member of the Texas A&M University System that now enrolls more than 15,000 students. The university fields NCAA Division I athletics and a rodeo team that has won multiple national championships, reinforcing the town's cowboy identity with genuine competitive pedigree. Stephenville today is a vibrant small city that balances ranch tradition with college-town dynamism. Its economy rests on agriculture, the university, healthcare, and regional retail, and its historic downtown square anchors shopping, dining, and live music. Residents enjoy the Bosque River Trail, nearby lakes Proctor and Palo Pinto, and a friendly, community-centered pace of life, all within about ninety minutes of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It suits families, students, ranchers, and anyone drawn to authentic Texas western culture.