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Monthalia

Ghost town · Gonzales County, Texas

Cost quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:24,000)
Cost quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:24,000) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Monthalia is a ghost town in Gonzales County, Texas. It is one of 2 former communities in Gonzales County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 53rd among the 165 Texas counties with a vanished settlement on record.

At its height the population reached about 65.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Monthalia as a historical populated place: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 29.4689° N, 97.6086° W.

In old newspapers

The earliest digitized newspaper pages printed in Texas before 1931 that mention “Monthalia”, from the Library of Congress. A page may use the name for something else; open it to read the context. 25 pages in all.

Key facts

Peak population65
Last recorded population65
Elevation391 ft
Nearest living townGonzales, TX
Distance to it10.2 miles
Coordinates29.46890, -97.60860

Open the location on a map

Then and now

Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Monthalia today, aerial view
Cost quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:24,000)

Left: Cost quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1959, 1:24,000), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.

What's there now

Monthalia is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Gonzales, TX (population 7,180), about 10.2 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 391 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Monthalia?

Monthalia is in Gonzales County, Texas, at 29.4689, -97.6086.

How many ghost towns are in Gonzales County?

Gonzales County, Texas has 2 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-06.