On October 24, 1888 a small postoffice was crudely constructed about one mile west of the present site of Gorman. Edwin Lee, J. H. Kaufman and a Mr. Roark lived there, and Ewin Lee was said to be the first postmaster. They called it "Shonoak." The Gorman postoffice was established on December 20, 1889. Shinoak later became the Frank Gray Memorial Park and Gorman was named for the roadmaster of the Texas Central Railway. Some of the very earliest settlers here were James, John and Edward Jones; H. T. Hamrick; J. T. Chapman and Dr. E. W. Kimble.
Some of the samll communities near Gorman are Kokomo, Staff, Jewel, New Hope and Antioch. Jewel was founded in 1875 by the Gilbert family, and on January 8, 1876, B. A. Sims moved to Jewel. According to him "there was no Gorman and Desdemona was only a wide place in the road. When the railroad in the county missed Jewel, residents move to Shinoak, later called Gorman."
Pioneer is located in the extreme southwestern corner of the county; post office established December 11, 1885, with Wm. J. Jolly as first postmaster; town was never incorporated. The new post office built in 1920 at Gorman is still in use.