May is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place in northeastern Brown County, Texas, set in the rolling ranch country of the Cross Timbers region. The community sits at the junction of U.S. Highway 183 and Farm-to-Market Road 1689, about twenty miles north of Brownwood, the county seat, and roughly thirty miles south of the Interstate 20 corridor towns of Cisco and Eastland.
May developed as an agricultural settlement, its fortunes tied to the farms, ranches, and small businesses that served the surrounding countryside. In 1912, the Brownwood North and South Railroad connected Brownwood with May, giving the community a rail link for a time; the short-lived line lost money and was abandoned in 1927. By the 1940s, May had grown to roughly five hundred residents with several churches, a school, and more than a dozen businesses. The community was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1981, and its United Methodist Church received a historical marker two decades later.
Today May remains a quiet rural crossroads of roughly 280 residents. It is unincorporated, governed by Brown County, and retains the unhurried character of a West Texas farming town. The landscape around the community is defined by mesquite-dotted pastures, working cattle operations, and the shallow draws that feed Pecan Bayou to the south. Agriculture and ranching remain central to the area's identity.
The community is served by its own small school district, May ISD, which enrolls about 260 students from the surrounding area. Residents travel to Brownwood for shopping, healthcare, and employment, while Lake Brownwood and the state park of the same name provide nearby recreation. For homebuyers, May offers an authentic small-town Texas setting with wide-open spaces, agricultural land, and a close-knit community, all within an easy drive of Brownwood's services and the broader Abilene and Fort Worth regions beyond.
