OWENS, TEXAS (Brown County). Owens, also known as Clio, is located eight miles north of Brownwood on U.S. Highway 183 in central Brown County. The town was settled in the early 1870s. The post office, granted in 1878 as Clio, was renamed for E. Owens, who donated the townsite, in 1910. It closed sometime after 1930. John W. Yantis promoted sawmills in the area. In the 1930s the town had a school, a church, two businesses, and a number of scattered homes. In 1949 Owens had one business and a population of 100. In 1953 it had a population of forty and no businesses; in 1965 the population was sixty. No census data was reported for Owens after 1965. In 1983 the community had two churches and a single business. It was still shown on county highway maps in 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: James C. White, The Promised Land: A History of Brown County (Brownwood, Texas: Brownwood Banner, 1941).

Jeanne F. Lively