Callahan County was created in 1858 and named for Texas Ranger James H. Callahan (1814-56). Permanent settlement of this area began after the Civil War (1861-65). Residents petitioned in 1877 for organization of county government. Callahan City, then a village with two stores and a post office, became temporary county seat when the first commissioners court met here on July 30, 1877. The nearby town of Belle Plaine won a spirited election for permanent county seat in December 1877. After the Callahan City post office moved there six months later, this community soon disappeared. (1977)