City of Snyder

Originally established as a trading post on Deep Creek for buffalo hunters and called "Hide Town," because of many hide tents and dugouts, the city of Snyder takes it name from W. H. (Pete) Snyder, a Dutch trader who established a store here in 1878. A major event in the town's growth came in 1908 when the Roscoe, Snyder & Pacific Railroad brought the "Iron Horse" to Snyder. The city incorporated in 1907. Late in 1948 the city moved into another era when the huge Canyon Reef Oil Field was discovered. With influx of oil field workers and personnel, the quiet county seat became an overcrowded boom town overnight, with the population jumping from 4,000 to 12,000 in a year's time. Today Snyder, the county seat of Scurry County, continues as a regional trade center for ranching, farming and oil production. (1966)