Tilden

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is the story of Tilden, McMullen County, Texas. Now, a town that ends up with three different names before it finds the one that sticks, that's a town with a story worth pulling over for.

It all started back in 1858, when folks settled here and called the place Rio Frio. Simple enough. A name, a place, a beginning.

But Rio Frio wasn't going to be the end of it. Not by a long shot. See, somewhere along the way, the ranchers in this country figured out that dogs, lots and lots of dogs, were just the thing for rounding up cattle.

And when you've got enough dogs working the range that the whole town gets associated with the practice, well, your town is going to pick up a nickname whether you like it or not. They called it Dog Town. Now, I'm not saying that's a bad name.

I'm just saying it's a name that tends to follow you around. Then came 1871, and somebody decided it was time to act respectable. The townsite was laid out proper and given a proper name: Colfax.

Six years later, in 1877, Colfax was made the county seat of McMullen County. Things were looking up. But here's where the story takes its most interesting turn, and it comes from a thousand miles away.

In 1876, a man named S. J. Tilden won the popular vote for President of the United States.

Won it. And somehow, out here in deep South Texas, that fact landed hard enough that the people of this little county seat decided to rename their town in his honor. So Colfax became Tilden.

A town named for a man who won the popular vote and still didn't end up in the White House. There's a wry kind of Texas poetry in that, if you think about it long enough. Today Tilden is a ranching and petroleum center, noted for its fine rural high school, its annual rodeo, and its historic sites.

Three names, one place, and a whole lot of dogs that started it all.

What the marker says

Settled 1858 as Rio Frio. Later called "Dog Town" because ranchers used many dogs to round up cattle. 1871 townsite was laid out as Colfax. Made county seat 1877. Renamed for S.J. Tilden, who won popular vote for U.S. President, 1876. Ranching and petroleum center. Noted for fine rural high school, annual rodeo, historic sites. 1966