The founders of the bustling western town of Ochiltree, Texas needed a railroad. The economic development and growth in their farming and ranching community was tied to good transportation. Up in the Oklahoma panhandle, almost 20 miles north of Ochiltree, the people in the  town of Gray also needed the railroad.

When the railroad was built from the east going west it went through open grasslands about eight miles north of Ochiltree and south of Gray. Now many people might have called that their misfortune and watched their towns slowly die.

Those who had built their stores and homes in Ochiltree and Gray decided that if the railroad wouldn't come to them, they would go to it. They merged the two towns by literally picking up their buildings off of foundations and moving to the railroad. This was quite a feat in 1919, and attracted national attention. Some of those buildings that rode across the prairie, with families inside, are still standing in the town that they named Perryton.

     Today Perryton is the commercial and retail trade center of the Northeast Texas High Plains. With strong ties to the land, Perryton is known as the "Wheatheart of the Nation."
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Perryton and Ochiltree County are also known for famous oil and gas field booms in later years.

Archeological findings, including the "Buried City" provide interesting clues to early inhabitants of the region around Perryton.