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History in
a Pecan Shell
The site dates
all the way back to 1832 with a grant to Ambrose Tinney, the namesake
of Tinney Creek. When the Comanches didn’t kill Tinney, other settlers
cautiously arrived in the 1840s.
McMahan had two saloons during its early days, separated by Tinney
Creek. Wildcat was a store-saloon on one side and the residents
and patrons of the other saloon banded together and collectively named
their side Whizzerville.
When the name Whizzerville was rejected by postal authorities for
(supposedly) being too long (They accepted Raymondville
with no problem) the residents had to go with tradition and name it
after an upright citizen. The nominee was Edward J. McMahan, a storekeeper.
The post office became a reality in 1898 and stayed open until the
early 1960s.
By 1914 McMahan was thriving with two stores and 75 citizens who were
glad they weren’t known as Whizzervillains. The town grew to around
200 during the boom times of the 20s, but lost fully half during the
Depression years. The town experienced a rebound in the early 40s
that brought it up to 250 – it’s high-water mark.
With the post war migration toward the cities. McMahan fell back to
150 and the town’s schools merged with Luling
ISD in 1949.
The population declined to 125 in the 1960s and has remained at that
level.
Today, McMahan is nominated as the “quietest place in Caldwell
County” if and when the subject ever comes up. A former store
sits across from the old post office and the homes are almost hidden
behind abundant foliage. Whizzerville lives on in a few old signs
and a street name. |
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Whizzerville
Hall as it looked in 2002
TE photo,
June 2002
More Texas Stores
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Old gas pump
in McMahan
TE photo, 2000 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact
us. |
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