Tow, Texas, Llano County. (original) (raw)

U. S. Post Office Tow TX 78672
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

History in a Pecan Shell

The oldest community in Llano County, began in 1852 when the Cowan family moved here from Tennessee. The Cowans worked a salt bed on the Colorado River which provided salt to the local residents as well as the Confederate army during the Civil War.

The operation was destroyed in 1871 by a tornado still known as the "salt works cyclone. " in 1871. (See Salt of the South by Clay Coppedge.) The town�s namesake arrived in 1853. William Tow settled into what he named Tow Valley and when the post office opened in 1886, the name Tow was submitted and accepted. The town sat quietly for decades, content with knowing it was Llano County�s first community. The prime location made it a retirement destination starting in the 1970s.

The population never swelled to the extent of other retirement havens but it did grow from an estimated population of 50 (sometime before 1950) to over 300 by the mid 1970s. The number of 305 continues to be used on the TXDoT map.

Tow, Texas Landmarks

Tow Fire Department & Ladies Aux.
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

Tow Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

Tow Cemetery
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

The sign to Tow Cemetery
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

The house across from the sign to Tow Cemetery
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

Tow highway sign
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

In Memory of the William Riley Tow Family
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

Tow Welcome Sign
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

Outhouse
Photo courtesy Joe Eckols, 2021

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