McKinney was named, as was the county, in honour of Collin McKinney, a pioneer in the region and a signer of the Declaration of the Independence of Texas.
He was a member of the New York Assembly in 1759-1769, a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, a member of the Continental Congress from 1774 until his death and as such a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and in1777-1778was a member of the first state senate.
Huntington, named in honour of Samuel Huntington (1736-1796), of Connecticut, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was first settled about 1829, was incorporated as a town in 1848 and was chartered as a city in 1873.
His half-brother, Lewis Morris (1726-1798), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was educated at Yale, served in the Continental Congress from 1775 until early in 1777, and went on a mission to the western frontier in 1775 to win over the Indians from the British to the American side.
His brother, Edward Rutledge (1749-1800), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Charleston on the 23rd of November 1749.