Tilmon is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

in Caldwell County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. According to the

Handbook of Texas The ''Handbook of Texas'' is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). History The original ''Handbook'' was the brainchild of TSHA President ...

, the community had a population of 117 in 2000. It is located within the

Greater Austin The Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area, metropolitan statistical area (or Greater Austin) is a five-county United States metropolitan area, metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Texas, as defined by the Office of ...

metropolitan area.

History

Tilmon developed around a mill called Tilmon's Mill. This mill made

molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods ...

from cane crops grown in the bottom of nearby creeks during the antebellum Texas era. A post office was established at Tilmon in 1890 and remained in operation until 1906. There was only one business and several homes in the settlement in 1936. It had 25 inhabitants and two businesses in 1940. Its population grew to 40 in 1949 and decreased back to 25 settlers from 1970 to 1990. There were no businesses in the community in 1990. The county highway map in 1984 showed a community hall near the roadway. Its population was 117 in 2000. The Old Settler's Music Festival is held in the community.

Geography

Tilmon stands on Farm to Market Road 3158, approximately southeast of Lockhart in the southeastern part of Caldwell County.

Education

Tilmon had a school with one teacher and 47 students in 1905 and then had separate schools for

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and White children in 1936. Today the community is served by the Lockhart Independent School District.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Caldwell County, Texas Unincorporated communities in Texas