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History in
a Pecan Shell
Settled in the early 1860s, the town, like many in Texas, didn’t
really get started until the arrival of the railroad. In Bowie’s
case the year was 1882 and the railroad was the Fort Worth and Denver.
In August of that year a townsite was laid out and a post office
applied for. Bowie almost instantly became the most important market
and banking center between Fort
Worth and Wichita
Falls.
The population reached 1,000 by 1885 and eight years later The town
got its second railroad, the Chicago, Rock Island and Texas.
The population
for the 1900 census was estimated at 2,600.
Bowie had around 3,000 people during the 1920s and by the 1950s,
it was approaching 7,000. It reached its zenith in the late 1980s
with 5,818 residents, making it the largest town in Montague County.
It dipped to 4,990 for the 12990 census and rose to the present
5,219 (2000).
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