McDade

McDade History

McDade was incorporated June 28^th, 1873

"Tie City" or McDade, named for James W. McDade a railroad lawyer from Brenham, with the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. Located in the A. Martinez Survey, Bastrop County, McDade received the first train in 1871. Everyone didn’t favor the Iron Horse; a local preacher often met the train and preached the "evils of the train" to gathered crowds. The name "Tie City" came about because for a time, this was the end of the line and railroad ties were stacked here. The U.S. Mail came and went by train. The depot building remains but its location has moved to the end of the block toward the east, which now is the McDade General Store.

McDade's early history is of notorious gangs, outlaws, murderers, notch-cutters, hangings, dances, saloons, vigilantes, stage robberies and especially the Shoot-out on Christmas Day, when blood ran cold in the streets of McDade; the courts ruled it "A Merciless Killing". It was where several bodies were left dangling beside the road and anonymous graves appeared in local cemeteries over night. These events help to record the dark pages of McDade's history in the 1870s and 1880s, but there is also the brighter side too, good honest people came bringing their families, early business men rushed into town to make quick money, farmers came to settle the land and plant crops. Many of the settlers were the finest of citizens whose descendants still live in McDade today.

Not much remains of the once bustling town known as "Tie City" and later known as McDade. It was named for James W. McDade, a railroad lawyer from Brenham.

The Houston and Texas Central Railroad completed its line to McDade in 1871. And with the railroad came the fun seekers, the high rollers, criminals, the wild cowboys, the good ole boys that like to drink a lot, the crooks that played those card games to win, turning the town into a historical and notorious place. It was a time when you learned to remain silent for fear of the blue whistler treatment, when footprints could be found around the chimneys of certain vigilante members homes the next morning and secret meetings were often held in the woods to discuss strategy. We are told if a stranger rode into town on a good horse, had a good saddle, engaged in a game of cards in the saloon, now the Museum, he didn't leave town alive.

McDade had several stores on both sides of the railroad track. At one time, there were over three hotels, 2 drugstores, newspapers, groceries, lumber yards, doctors, and much more yet to be discovered. The buildings north of the tracks burned in the early 1900s. Some rebuilt their buildings while others moved to the south side and rebuilt. Today the railroad depot is turned into the only grocery store in town.

It is a special little town today with a great school system, four active churches, a volunteer fire department, a good water system, the McDade Watermelon Festival Association annual event, the McDade Historical Museum Society, and other numerous activities which make it a wonderful place.

Many potteries have located here since the clay suitable for earthenware is located here. Matthew Dunkin was the potter who influenced most of his family to join the pottery industry and so there was the Allen Pottery, The Dunkin Jug Shop, Stoker Pottery, R.L. William's McDade Pottery, the Willie Taylor Pottery and the Bohls Pottery that did not flourish which brought an end to the pottery business for McDade. The Museum holds a collection of McDade Pottery and early family histories and artifacts of those early days.