 O'Donnell, named for railroad man Tom J. O'Donnell, was established in 1910 as a speculative venture based on the opening up of new farmlands in southern Lynn and northern Dawson Counties.Wilson, 13 miles (19 km) northeast of Tahoka, was established in 1912 to attract farmers to the newly opened lands of the Dixie Ranch.A large number of Central Texas Germans purchased county lands, thus beginning a small-scale migration of Germans into the county that lasted into the 1950s.