STANFORD VALLEY is about twelve miles northeast of Hamilton between FM 1602 and the Bosque County line and also between Cranfills Gap and Jonesboro. It is also between HWY 22 and CR 313. Hiram and Martha Alabama (Jordan) Stanford purchased land in a valley in eastern Hamilton County in 1877. This fertile valley through which Neils Creek flows came to be known as Stanford Valley.  Hiram Stanford gave land for a school, a cemetery, and a public road through the valley. The one-room Stanford School was built in 1896.