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MAY, TEXAS. May, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and Farm Road 1689, in northeastern Brown County, was named for pioneer settler W. D. May. Since the local land was sandy, settlers were slow to move there. Nathan L. May started a store at the site in 1879, and in 1881 a post office was established with May as postmaster. The nearest school was at Verbena, 1½ miles away. May was a station on the Brownwood North and South Railway from 1907 to 1927, when the line was abandoned. In 1940 May had several churches and schools, fourteen businesses, and 500 residents. By 1980 its population had declined to 285, though the post office was still open; the population was the same the same through 2000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Thomas Robert Havins, Something about Brown: A History of Brown County, Texas (Brownwood, Texas: Banner Printing, 1958).

The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.

Handbook of Texas Online, s.v. "," http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/MM/hlm38.html (accessed December 5, 2008).

(NOTE: "s.v." stands for sub verbo, "under the word.")

The Handbook of Texas Online is a project of the Texas State Historical Association (http://www.tshaonline.org).

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Last Updated: January 18, 2008
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