Moran

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is Duane, and this is Moran, Shackelford County, Texas. Pull up a chair, because this town has gone by a few names before it finally figured out who it was.

Pioneers were already pushing into this country as early as the 1860s, and when the Civil War came, from 1861 to 1865, they didn't just hunker down. They built themselves a temporary fortress settlement right there on Deep Creek, and they called it Mugginsville. Not exactly a name that inspires fear in the enemy, but out here on the frontier, you built what you could and you named it what you liked.

At one time, a branch of the western cattle trail passed nearby, so this stretch of country knew the sound of hooves long before it knew the sound of a locomotive. That locomotive did come, though. The Texas Central Railroad arrived in 1881, and the population started climbing.

Then a man named Swope Hull showed up at the rail crossing on Deep Creek and opened a grocery store in 1883, and right there, a town was born. Hull became postmaster of the first post office, a little outfit called Hulltown, which opened its doors on August 29, 1883. He wasn't done yet.

Hull bought 160 acres sitting between Post Oak and Deep creeks and platted out a proper townsite in March of 1884. Now that sounds like a man building something to last. Most of that property ended up in the hands of I.

B. Scott, known as BEM Scott, who later sold his interests in 1890 to M. D.

Bray, born in 1845 and gone in 1926, a prominent local merchant and landowner. And that same year, 1890, the town shed the name Hulltown and became Hicks. Two years later, in 1892, it shed that name too, and became Moran, after Texas Central Railroad president John J.

Moran. Third name's the charm, as they say. By the 1890s, Moran had a school, and its people were worshippin' at Baptist, Church of Christ, Cumberland Presbyterian, and Methodist congregations.

A newspaper got started in 1895. A bank followed in 1902. The town incorporated in 1919, right around the time the oil and gas boom of 1910 to 1930 turned Moran into a shipping point for drilling supplies.

Cowboys, cattle trails, fortress settlements, three different names, and then an oil boom. Today the area's economy rests on farming, ranching, and oil and gas production, same ground, still working. Some towns just keep earning their place on the map.

What the marker says

Pioneers came to this area as early as the 1860s. During the Civil War (1861-65), they built the temporary fortress settlement of Mugginsville on Deep Creek. At one time, a branch of the western cattle trail passed nearby. Population increased after the arrival of the Texas Central Railroad in 1881. The town of Moran was established by Swope Hull, who operated a grocery store at the rail crossing on Deep Creek in 1883. He was postmaster of the community's first post office, called "Hulltown," which opened August 29, 1883. Hull bought 160 acres between Post Oak and Deep creeks and platted a townsite in March 1884. Most of the property was bought by I. B. (BEM) Scott, who sold his interests in 1890 to M. D. Bray (1845-1926), a prominent local merchant and landowner. The town's name was changed in 1890 to "Hicks" and in 1892 to "Moran" for Texas Central Railroad president John J. Moran. By the 1890s, the community had a school and Baptist, Church of Christ, Cumberland Presbyterian, and Methodist congregations. A newspaper was begun in 1895 and bank in 1902. Incorporated in 1919, Moran was a shipping point for drilling supplies during the oil and gas boom of 1910-30. Today the area's economy is based on farming, ranching, and oil and gas production. (1976)