Muldoon is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in southwestern Fayette 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, located 10 miles north of Flatonia and 16 miles southwest of La Grange. It is at the junction of FM 154 and FM 2237. Its population, according to the 2010 census, is 114.

History

The town of Muldoon was named after Father Michael Muldoon, a clergyman who briefly served Stephen F. Austin's first colonists. He was the only non-Hispanic member of the Monterrey, Mexico Diocese and was probably assigned his duties because he spoke English. He was born in County Cavan in Ireland and later ordained in Spain. In 1834, Muldoon travelled to Mexico to visit Stephen F. Austin during Austin's confinement there. Later, he assisted William Wharton in his escape from a Matamoros prison in 1837, after which the town of

Wharton, Texas Wharton is a city in and the county seat of Wharton County, Texas, United States. This city is southwest of Houston. Its population was 8,832 at the 2010 census and 8,627 at the 2020 census. Wharton is located on the Colorado River of Texas. ...

was founded. Muldoon was openly pro-Texan, which led to his own brief imprisonment by the Mexican government. However, he eventually was released, and even travelled back to Texas following the revolution, making an appearance in 1842 during which he was given a letter of appreciation from Texas President

Anson Jones Anson Jones (January 20, 1798 – January 9, 1858) was an American medical doctor, businessman, member of Congress, and the fourth and last president of the Republic of Texas. Early life Jones was born on January 20, 1798, in Great Barri ...

. Afterward, Father Muldoon disappeared from history and his final resting place is unknown. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railroad tracks, laid in the early 1900s alongside what later was designated FM 154, once carried a high volume of passenger traffic to and from Muldoon on a regular basis. During this period, the railroad formed a large portion of Muldoon's economy; however, ridership eventually dwindled and Muldoon's prominence as a rail depot faded. Additionally, the advent of diesel power obviated the need for locomotives to refill their water tanks, which further reduced the number of trains stopping in Muldoon. The old train station was abandoned in the 1950s with discontinuance of the Dinky (a small passenger train) that ran a route from Flatonia to Muldoon. In the 1960s,

Hurricane Carla Hurricane Carla was the most intense tropical cyclone landfall in Texas in the 20th century. The third named storm of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, Carla developed from an area of squall, squally weather in the southwestern Caribbean Sea ...

severely damaged the old water tower that had served the steam locomotives, and this structure subsequently was removed. Muldoon once had a thriving business community, including several stores, at least one saloon, a blacksmith shop, a small hotel, and a rock quarry that produced the stone used in the construction of the

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

jetties. None of these businesses are still in operation. The Kerr Store, which was built in 1890 and abandoned in the mid 1900s, still stands today along FM 154, along with another former store building, the former blacksmith shop, and several other historic buildings.

References

External links

MULDOON, TX
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Handbook of Texas Online The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

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MULDOON, TX '' Texasescapes''. {{authority control Towns in Fayette County, Texas Towns in Texas