Stratford is located north of Amarillo between Dumas and the Texas/Oklahoma state line US 54, US 287 and Hwy 15 near Coldwater Creek.
It is the seat of Sherman County, settled around 1885.
In the 1980s, in addition to several large feedlots and feed-production plants, the town had a tannery, a steel-fabrication plant, a bank, a library, an airport, seven churches, enlarged public schools, an exhibit and livestock-show barn, and a nursing home with updated facilities. Stratford was incorporated before 1940, when it reported a population of 877. In 1950 the population was 1,376. It was 2,139 in 1970, 1,917 in 1980, and 1,781 in 1990.