The Gainesville, Henrietta and Western Railway was built in 1886 starting in Gainesville, TX, and progressing westward from there. Responsible for the founding of a number of towns along its route, reaching the town of Saint Jo in 1887, and eventually Henrietta later that year. By 1900, the railroad had extended to Wichita Falls (using a rail line adjacent and parallel to the existing Fort Worth and Denver Railroad line).

The GH&W came under the control of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in 1891.

The GH&W was abandoned under M-K-T ownership in 1969. Little evidence of the line remains today.