Plainview is a city in and the county seat of Hale County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,187. Plainview began when Z. T. Maxwell and Edwin Lowden Lowe established a post office in March 18, 1887. The town received its name due to the vast treeless plain surrounding it. On July 3, 1888, the town received a charter, and it became the county seat in August the same year, when Hale County was organized.