How Tilden Became the County Seat

In 1858, about thirty settlers built a small community where Leoncita Creek meets the Frio River. They first called it Rio Frio. Later it was called Dog Town. When McMullen County was officially organized in 1877, the town was surveyed and renamed Tilden. It has been the county seat ever since.

The county was created in 1858 from parts of Bexar, Atascosa, and Live Oak counties. It is named for John McMullen, an early Texas colonizer. By 1880, stagecoaches on the San Antonio-Laredo road stopped regularly in Tilden. Ranching drove the early economy, followed by oil and gas in the 20th century. The county covers about 1,159 square miles of brush country and remains one of the least populated counties in Texas.