In the early 1870s, buffalo hunters camped on Deep Creek and built tents and half-dugouts on the creek banks, using buffalo hides. The settlement was called "Hide Town" and a few other unfavorable names because it was rough and tough in the early years. In 1878, a Dutch freighter and trader named William Henry (Pete) Snyder came to the area and started a trading post on the creek bank.

William Henry (Pete) Snyder

He stayed there until a small frame building was erected for him on what is now the southeast corner of the Snyder square. This business was the beginning of the county seat of Scurry County named for this first merchant. On November 21, 1885 the post office was established and the town was officially named Snyder.