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. (1981)