MONTAGUE, TEXAS

"Fifth Largest Town in Montague County"

Montague County Seat, Central Texas North
Highways 59 and 175
60 miles SE of Wichita Falls
80 miles NW of Fort Worth
12 miles West of St. Jo
11 miles from Bowie
Population: 304 (2010) 400 est. (2000)

Book Hotel Here › Bowie Hotels

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2003

Montague County Courthouse ›
& Jail ›

History in a Pecan Shell

Daniel Montague surveyed neighboring Cooke County and served in the Mexican War as a Captain.

As surveyor for the Fannin Land District - he took land in lieu of cash payment.

1848: neighboring Cooke County created - Daniel Montague was named surveyor
1858: town established on land donated by the state (for Daniel Montague's service)
1860: post office is granted
1874: the Montague Frontier News is published
1880: population reaches 400
1886: town was incorporated
1880 to 1900: The town is bypassed by two railroads - Bowie (to the south) gets the Fort Worth and Denver and Nocona (to the north) gets the Missouri, Kansas and Texas.
An attempt was made to connect with Bowie, but the independent RR went out of business after laying only eight miles of track
1900: perhaps discouraged by being bypassed - the town votes to unincorporate
1915: population is 300 - dipping even lower in
1947: when only 284 people lived there
1990: Overcrowding becomes a concern when population reaches 400 people

See Montague County Courthouse & Jail ›

Windmills in Montague
TE Photo, 2003
More Windmills in Texas

Montague, Texas Forum

I was there once. I recall a huge courthouse and mostly abandoned business buildings on the surrounding town square. - JERRY CLIFT, May 18, 2002

Take a road trip

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