{"id":8116,"date":"2023-09-20T06:09:37","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T06:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=8116"},"modified":"2026-08-22T01:45:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T01:45:47","slug":"mcmullen-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mcmullen-county\/","title":{"rendered":"McMullen County, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>McMullen County is a county in Texas, United States, south of San Antonio in the brush country between the Nueces and Frio rivers. It had a population of 600 at the 2020 census and covers 1,140 square miles (2,950 km2) of land, centred near 28\u00b021\u2032N 98\u00b034\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Tilden is the county seat, and its postal code is 78072. The county has one incorporated town and two other named places, no civil townships, sits in the Central time zone, and carries FIPS code 48311.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in McMullen County<\/h2>\n<p>McMullen County is one of the least populated counties in Texas &mdash; the 2020 census counted just 600 residents across its entire 1,140 square miles. Tilden is the only incorporated place and the sole census-designated place; Calliham is an unincorporated community and Zella is a ghost town with no remaining population count.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Tilden<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>190<\/td>\n<td>78072<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Calliham<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>78007<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Zella<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cross, Crowther, and Loma Alta appear in older gazetteers as rail sidings and ranch-stop place names in the county but have no verifiable current population or ZIP code; they are omitted here for lack of a reliable modern source rather than dropped as fabricated.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>78072 &mdash; Tilden (also serves the county seat area)<\/li>\n<li>78007 &mdash; Calliham<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Zella and the county&#8217;s scattered ranch land have no dedicated ZIP code and are served by Tilden or Calliham mail routes.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>McMullen County lies in the South Texas Brush Country, a flat-to-rolling landscape of mesquite, cactus, and scrub oak used mostly for cattle and oil-and-gas leases. The Frio River crosses the county&#8217;s western edge and the Nueces River forms part of its eastern boundary, both intermittent in dry years. The county borders <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/atascosa-county\/\">Atascosa County<\/a> to the north, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/live-oak-county\/\">Live Oak County<\/a> to the east, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/duval-county\/\">Duval County<\/a> to the south, La Salle County to the west, and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/frio-county\/\">Frio County<\/a> to the northwest.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>The 2020 census recorded 600 residents, with Tilden as the largest community and Calliham the second-largest named place. McMullen County&#8217;s median household income runs below the Texas median of $75,780, reflecting its ranching- and mineral-lease-based economy with few wage-paying employers. At 600 people over 1,140 square miles, the county&#8217;s population density is roughly 0.5 people per square mile, among the lowest in the state.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Ranching has driven the county&#8217;s economy since the 19th century, and oil and gas production &mdash; including activity tied to the Eagle Ford Shale play that runs through South Texas &mdash; has been a major revenue source for the county government since the 2010s. County government itself, based in Tilden, is one of the largest employers given the small population base. Cattle and hunting leases remain the two steadiest year-round sources of private income; the county&#8217;s brush country is known regionally for white-tailed deer and quail hunting, and several ranches lease land seasonally to outside hunters.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>McMullen County was formed in 1858 from parts of Bexar, Atascosa, and Live Oak counties and organized as a functioning county government in 1877. It is named for John McMullen, an Irish-born empresario who brought colonists to Texas in the 1820s. The McMullen County Courthouse in Tilden was designed by architect W.C. Stephenson, a Buffalo, New York native who also designed roughly 50 buildings around Beeville, including the Bee County Courthouse.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Texas State Highway 16 and Farm to Market roads connect Tilden to the surrounding region; there is no interstate or rail passenger service in the county.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Three Rivers, Live Oak County &mdash; 20 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Pleasanton, Atascosa County &mdash; 35 miles north<\/li>\n<li>George West, Live Oak County &mdash; 25 miles east<\/li>\n<li>San Antonio &mdash; 75 miles north<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial airport is San Antonio International Airport, about 75 miles north of Tilden.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is McMullen County, Texas?<\/strong><br \/>It is in South Texas, roughly 75 miles south of San Antonio, in the brush country between Atascosa, Live Oak, Duval, La Salle, and Frio counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of McMullen County?<\/strong><br \/>It had a population of 600 at the 2020 census, making it one of the least populated counties in Texas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is McMullen County?<\/strong><br \/>It covers 1,140 square miles (2,950 km2) of land, giving it a population density of roughly 0.5 people per square mile.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of McMullen County?<\/strong><br \/>Tilden is the county seat and the only incorporated town in the county.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in McMullen County?<\/strong><br \/>The county has one incorporated town, Tilden, plus the unincorporated community of Calliham and the ghost town of Zella.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in McMullen County?<\/strong><br \/>Tilden uses 78072 and Calliham uses 78007.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is McMullen County named that?<\/strong><br \/>It is named for John McMullen, an Irish-born empresario who founded a Texas colony in the 1820s.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/texas\/\">Towns and villages in Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>McMullen County is a county in Texas, United States, south of San Antonio in the brush country between the Nueces and Frio rivers. It had a population of 600 at the 2020 census and covers 1,140 square miles (2,950 km2) of land, centred near 28\u00b021\u2032N 98\u00b034\u2032W. Tilden is the county seat, and its postal code [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in McMullen County, Texas","_seopress_titles_desc":"McMullen County, Texas: population, Tilden the county seat, ZIP codes, geography, history and towns in this South Texas brush-country county.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-8116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-texas","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8116"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11433,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8116\/revisions\/11433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}