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FOYDADA, TEXAS. Floydada, the county seat of Floyd County, is at the junction of U.S. highways 62 and 70, State Highway 207, and Farm roads 784 and 1958 in the south central part of the county. The town, originally named Floyd City, was established in 1890 by M. C. Williams on 640 acres donated by James B. and Caroline Price of Jefferson City, Missouri. The community won the county seat election after a bitter contest with supporters of Della Plain.

When a post office was opened, the town's name was changed to Floydada to prevent confusion with Floyd in Hunt County. Some claim the new name was meant to be Floydalia and was garbled in transmission to Washington; others say it was a combination of the county name and that of donor James Price's mother, Ada; still another version is that it was named for Caroline Price's parents, Floyd and Ada.

The town's rate of growth was slow in early years, when immediate expectations of a railroad were disappointed. The Pecos and Northern Texas, a division of the Santa Fe, built through in 1910, and the Quanah, Acme and Pacific reached Floydada in 1928, making the community an important rail junction. The town was rebuilt after a devastating fire in 1911 and boomed for several years. A newspaper, the Texas Kicker, was published briefly in 1890, and beginning in 1896 Claude V. Hall published the Floyd County Hesperian.

Aside from setbacks in 1918, when the flu epidemic caused more than fifty deaths, and during the Great Depression, Floydada has shown a steadier prosperity than many West Texas towns. In 1950 it had ninety-two businesses and a population of 3,214. The population was 3,769 in 1960 and reached 4,109 in 1970, when the town had 118 businesses, a hospital, an expanded school system, twenty-two churches, a library, and three parks.

The population was 4,193 in 1980 and 3,896 in 1990. In 2000 Floydada had 189 businesses and 3,676 inhabitants. The community no longer had rail service. Much of Floydada's commerce derives from cotton, wheat, vegetables, soybeans, corn, and sunflowers, as well as livestock. Industries include the manufacture of race-cars, sheet metal goods, and oilfield equipment. The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service is located in Floydada.