Fort McKavett is a
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
in
Menard County,
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
, United States. It lies at the intersections of
Farm to Market Road 864 and Farm to Market Road 1674, 20 miles southwest of the county seat,
Menard. Its elevation is 2,169 feet (661 m). It has a
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
with the
ZIP code 76841.
History
The settlement of Fort McKavett had its 1850s origins as a civilian population just north of Camp San Saba in
Menard County (not the Camp San Saba in
McCulloch County), with the name of Scabtown. Camp San Saba closed in 1859, and many residents fled to safer areas to be protected against Indian depredations. The
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
reopened the outpost in 1869 as
Fort McKavett. As the civilian population of Scabtown grew, the community was renamed after Fort McKavett, and the local economy began to thrive. The Army closed the fort in 1883, but the earlier relocation of native American tribes made the civilians feel safe enough to remain. The population grew, and with it an economy that supported two hotels, three churches, a newspaper, and a mattress factory. The population peaked at 150 at the beginning of the 20th century, but declined in the latter half of the century.
The writer
Robert E. Howard
Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp magazine, pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sor ...
, a Texas history enthusiast, visited Fort McKavett in 1933, and wrote: "McKavett is fascinating - a village of ruins and semiruins, people living in the old unruined barracks and officers's quarters, among the remnants of other buildings which had not stood the test of time.
Notable people
*
Harry D. Thiers
*
E.B. Beaumont
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, dry summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system, Fort McKavett has a mid-latitude arid desert climate, ''BWk'' on climate maps.
Climate Summary for Fort McKavett, Texas
/ref> The hottest temperature recorded in was on June 22, 2023, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 9–10, 2010.[
]
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Menard County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Ghost towns in Central Texas