History of McDow: A Ghost Town in Wharton County
Published: 1952
Updated: July 31, 2020
McDow was a railroad stop located in northern Wharton County. This station probably began by the early 1900s as a stop on the Cane Belt Railroad, which was later acquired by the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railway. McDow was shown on county maps by 1918 and remained an active station at least through the 1930s. Wharton county histories do not record a school there. This region may have been part of the Bonus-Nedra school district, which encompassed two other rail stops south of McDow. The many stops along the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe served the rice and sugar mill industries of the area. McDow was a ghost town and was not shown on maps by the late twentieth century.
Bibliography:
J. O. Graham, comp., The Book of Wharton County Texas (Wharton?: Philip Rich, 1926). Wharton County Historical Commission, Wharton County Pictorial History: 1846–1946, Our First 100 Years (Austin: Eakin Press, 1993).
Places:
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Laurie E. Jasinski, “McDow, TX,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed March 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mcdow-tx.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
TID:
HVM57
- 1952
- July 31, 2020
