Maud, TX

Maud is a Bowie County city in the Texarkana metropolitan area, where the 2020 census counted 977 residents. U.S. Route 67 runs through the center, leading northeast to Texarkana and southwest toward Mount Pleasant. The Sulphur River and Wright Patman Lake sit just beyond town, giving Maud a water geography that reaches back to the Red River.

Before Maud took shape, Trammel's Trace passed south of the present city, with Epperson's Ferry carrying travelers across the Sulphur River. Mark Epperson established the ferry by 1837, and mail service from Nacogdoches to the Red River County seat ran through the crossing. A wooden bridge later replaced the ferry, followed by a modern bridge in 1924; Lake Texarkana eventually covered the original ferry site. The 1936 Texas Centennial Commission placed a marker at the crossing, later moved when the lake inundated the original site. The crossing predates the city by decades. Maud's roads and reservoir still sit on top of that older crossing story.