Stephenville is founded by and named after John M. Stephen, who settled there in 1854, and donated the land for the townsite laid out by
George B. Erath when the county was organized in 1856. In the first two years of its settlement, the population increased to 776. The population then declined until 1871, because the townsite was in
Comanche territory and raids were common, and because the hardships of the
American Civil War led citizens to leave. The population grew after Stephenville became an agriculture and livestock center. Coal mining also became important to the area in 1886, and was a major segment of the economy for the 30 years. Stephenville was incorporated in 1889, with the arrival of the
Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway. In the 1890s, many of the buildings around the town square were built,
Tarleton State University opened, and the community's two newspapers merged to become the
Empire-Tribune, which is still in operation. In February 1907, the
Stephenville North and South Texas Railway was chartered by Stephenville and
Hamilton business interests, which sold the line in 1910 to the
St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas system. In the 20th century, industry became an important part of Stephenville, and the population has steadily increased since the 1920s. The
Air Force Reserve issued a statement from the
NAS Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base that jets from the
457th Fighter Squadron were in military airspace designated for training during the time people reported seeing the lights. The F-16s had been engaged in training maneuvers and dropping counter-measure flares used to confuse heat-seeking missiles. Following news reports of the UFO sighting, "media calls came from all over the world", and local police Constable Lee Roy Gaitan gave more than 100 interviews. The town reacted in a "UFO frenzy"; T-shirts proclaiming the town "Alien Capital of the World" and "Erath County — the New Roswell", were rushed into production, and the local high school suddenly received $7,000 for college scholarships. ==Rise of 764==