The May Community

The Handbook of Texas says May was named for pioneer W. D. May, and that settlers came slowly because the land was sandy. The nearest school was at Verbena. The railroad that crowned the town's early history was the Brownwood North and South, built to connect Brownwood with May; it lost money and was abandoned in 1927. In 1940 May had several churches and schools, fourteen businesses and about 500 people. From 1980 through 2000 it counted 285 people.

What the plaque says

Originally part of a Mexican land grant given to empresario John Cameron in 1827, May developed in the 1870s when several pioneer families settled here. Baptists and Methodists quickly organized churches. A one-room school known as Old Swayback provided the first formal education for the children. Nathan L. May built a trading post in 1879 and became the town's first postmaster in 1881. By 1907 the village had a blacksmith shop, general store, newspaper and bank. The early history of May climaxed in 1911 with the coming of the railroad. (1981)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Brownwood State Park — 11 mi
  A CCC park on a reservoir that filled in a single flood before its dam was done, with stone cabins, a hilltop dance pavilion and a grand staircase climbed by dancers arriving by boat.

More markers nearby

• First United Methodist Church of Rising Star — 8.3 mi
• Rising Star — 8.4 mi
• Cross Cut Cemetery — 13 mi
• Blanket — 13 mi