May, at the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and Farm Road 1689, in northeastern Brown County, was named for pioneer settler W. D. May. Since the local land was sandy, settlers were slow to move there. Nathan L. May started a store at the site in 1879, and in 1881 a post office was established with May as postmaster. The nearest school was at Verbena, 1½ miles away. May was a station on the Brownwood North and South Railway from 1907 to 1927, when the line was abandoned. In 1940 May had several churches and schools, fourteen businesses, and 500 residents. By 1980 its population had declined to 285, though the post office was still open; the population was the same in 1990.

Originally part of a Mexican land grant given to empresario John Cameron in 1827, May developed in the 1870s when several pioneer families settled here. Baptists and Methodists quickly organized churches. A one-room school known as Old Swayback provided the first formal education for the children. Nathan L. May built a trading post in 1879 and became the town's first postmaster in 1881. By 1907 the village had a blacksmith shop, general store, newspaper and bank. The early history of May climaxed in 1911 with the coming of the railroad.

Historical Marker Text, 1981