History of Maha, Texas: From Poor Farm to Community
Published: 1952
Updated: December 2, 2020
Maha, on U.S. Highway 183 twelve miles south of Austin in southern Travis County, was settled in the early 1890s. It was originally called Poor Farm but was later named for nearby Mayhard Creek. Both the town and the creek were renamed Maha. In 1907 the community had a one-teacher school for thirty-six White students and a one-teacher school for fifty-four Black students. Two schools, a church, and several residences marked the community on county highway maps in the 1940s. The Maha schools were consolidated with the Creedmoor school district in 1955.
Bibliography:
Mary Starr Barkley, History of Travis County and Austin, 1839–1899 (Waco: Texian Press, 1963).
Places:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Claudia Hazlewood, “Maha, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/maha-tx.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
HRM06
- 1952
- December 2, 2020
