Brady
Brady, Texas
Brady, the county seat of McCulloch County, is located on U.S. highways 87, 283, and 190, 115 miles northwest of Austin, near the geographic center of Texas. When the area was settled in the 1870s, the community was named Brady City after Brady Creek, which runs through town. The name was shortened to Brady when the town was incorporated in 1906. In 1787–88 Spanish explorer José Mares crossed the creek near the site of present Brady. Henry and Nancy Fulcher, the first settlers on Brady Creek, donated land for the townsite in the mid-1870s. Allison Ogden and his father-in-law, Ben Henton, built a store in 1875. A post office opened in 1876. After residents of McCulloch County chose Brady as county seat on May 15, 1876, the town grew fairly quickly. Brady had about fifty residents in 1877, and a stone courthouse was completed in 1878. Thomas Maples began weekly publication of the Brady Sentinel in 1880; by 1884 Brady had two churches, a district school, three stores, two hotels, and 300 residents.
Stock raising was the primary occupation in the Brady area before 1900. In the 1870s and 1880s local ranchers drove their cattle to markets in Kansas. Most other trade was with Brownwood and Lampasas. The number of farms and fences increased with the influx of immigrants in the late 1880s and 1890s. Poultry, sheep, goats, cotton, and pecans joined cattle as important sources of income for area residents. When the Fort Worth and Rio Grande Railway arrived in 1903, Brady became a principal shipping point for Central Texas. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe came to Brady in 1912. By 1914 the town had grown to include four churches, two schools, two banks, several processing plants, manufacturing and supply outlets, and 2,669 residents.
Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl | © TSHA
Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.
- ✅ Adoption Status:
Adopted by:
Descendants of the Bradley Family
Remembering C.L. and Mary O. Bradley who lived in Brady many years.
Until: February 28th, 2025
Belongs to
Brady is part of or belongs to the following places:
Currently Exists
Yes
Place type
Brady is classified as a Town
Associated Names
- [-City]
Location
Latitude: 31.13846650Longitude: -99.39008300
Has Post Office
Yes
Is Incorporated
Yes
Population Count, 2021 View more »
5,032