Harding County MainStreet: Community Economic Assessment

Harding County MainStreet runs the 19 mile stretch of the Fronterra Del Llano Scenic Byway (Highway 39) from the southern edge of Mosquero to the northern edge of Roy. Harding County is the entryway to the Llano Estacado. The first written account of the area came from Coronado’s 1540 expedition in which he wrote about the area’s potential as grazing lands. Traditionally the territory of the Apache, Comanche, and Kiowa, no Spanish or Mexican land grants were recorded in the county, however, Hispanic settlement in the area dates at least as far back as the Mexican territorial era. Anglo settlement came to the area with the Homestead Act of 1862. In 1901 the Dawson Coal Company was founded and by 1902, a rail spur was completed between Tucumcari and the new coal mines, running through Roy, Solano and Mosquero. With the closure of the mines in Dawson in 1950, the rail spur was discontinued. Harding County has been losing population ever since.