Bowie,
Texas
Bowie is an incorporated community on
U.S. Highway 81, fifteen miles southwest of Montague in southwestern
Montague County. In 1882, when the tracks of the Fort Worth and Denver
Railway were built through the area, local settlers who had been there
since the early 1860's moved to the site of the construction camps, and
soon businesses appeared in canvas tents. A town site was laid out on
August 15, 1882, and residents applied for a post office to be named for
James Bowie. On July 22, 1884, residents voted to incorporate the
new town. Bowie became a market and financial center for farmers and
ranchers between Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. In 1885 it had a
population of 1,000, three hotels, a bank, a weekly newspaper, schools,
and a number of churches. The Chicago, Rock Island and Texas Railway
came to Bowie in 1893, and by 1900 the community had an estimated 2,600
residents. By the mid-1920s Bowie had a population of 3,000 and about
100 businesses, including four banks, two weekly newspapers, a hospital,
and a business college (opened in 1912). During the mid-1950's the
population was 6,796, and by the late 1980's the town reported 5,818
residents and 160 businesses. By then Bowie was the largest town in
Montague County. In 1990 its population was 4,990.
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