Hoxie was planned in early 1886. The town creators convinced the residents of Kenneth, a community three miles to the north and the current county seat, to move south (including their buildings) at their expense to the new site of Hoxie. The people of Kenneth knew a railroad would go through Hoxie and not Kenneth, so the offer sounded good. The towns agreed to consolidate and carry out that plan, making Hoxie the new county seat. It was named for H. M. Hoxie, a railroad official. The railroad (which became part of the Union Pacific Railroad) came in 1888.