Salona, Texas: The Montague County Community That Time Almost Forgot

Salona is a historic unincorporated community in central Montague County, Texas, about five miles southeast of Bowie. It began as a farming settlement in the early 1870s, originally known as Bethel, and was renamed Salona by the early 1880s. Though it never grew large, the community served as a local center for families in the surrounding countryside for many decades.

Early Settlement and Naming

The settlement that became Salona was founded in the years following the Civil War, when Montague County experienced steady growth. Small communities sprang up across the county as farming families looked for land and water sources. Bethel was established in this period, and by the early 1880s, residents had renamed it Salona. The reasons for the name change are not recorded, but the practice was common in rural Texas communities as towns formalized their identity or sought new post office recognition.

Community Life

By the 1880s, Salona had the basic institutions expected of a rural Texas community: a church and a school. These served not only as educational and religious centers but also as gathering places for events, meetings, and community life. Farming was the backbone of the local economy, with families cultivating crops and raising livestock on small plots of land.

In 1889, Salona was granted a post office, a sign of its recognized importance to area residents. For more than fifteen years, the post office connected Salona with the wider region before it was discontinued in 1905.

Population and Size

Salona never developed into a large town. Its population was consistently modest, with records showing that it never exceeded fifty residents. Even in its later years, the settlement remained small. By the late 1940s, the estimated population was around thirty people, reflecting the gradual decline common to many rural communities in Montague County as nearby towns grew and centralized services.

Decline and Later Recognition

Although Salona’s population decreased over time, it did not vanish entirely from public records. The community continued to appear on official Texas highway maps into the 1980s, evidence that it remained a recognized locality well into the modern era. While it lost its post office and its small population dwindled, the place name endured, and Salona is often included in lists of Montague County’s historic or ghost towns.

Context within Montague County

Salona’s story fits into a larger pattern seen across Montague County and rural Texas. As towns like Bowie—just five miles away—grew into regional hubs with railroad access, schools, and businesses, smaller communities such as Salona struggled to compete. Many remained small farm settlements, and over time, populations consolidated around larger towns. Salona illustrates the persistence of rural hamlets that played an important role in local life despite never achieving large numbers.

Present Day

Today, Salona is regarded as a ghost town, though it more accurately represents a community that slowly faded rather than one that was suddenly abandoned. It remains part of the historical record of Montague County, remembered for its early settlement, small but steady population, and role in supporting area farmers for over a century.