The city of Quinter is built at the place of an old railroad switching place called Melota. A town named Familton was built there in 1885, and it had a hotel in it. The U.S. Government would not create a post office under the Familton name because of possible confusion with other names in the state, so another had to be chosen. The name Quinter was chosen. It was named after Rev. James Quinter, a local Baptist Brethren minister.