Saint Jo, Texas

Saint Jo is a city in Montague County, Texas, United States. The population was 977 at the 2000 census.HistoryEstablished in 1856, the city was originally known as Head of Elm, named for its location at the headwaters of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River.However, there are two conflicting stories regarding how Head of Elm became Saint Jo, both of which involve Joe Howell, who originally laid out the town.One theory revolves around a Tennessean named Irby Holt Boggess giving leadership in partnership with Joe Howell, in or around 1872. This was displayed in the Stonewall Saloon Museum on the town square of Saint Jo in 1986 and is incorporated in a story about Mr. Boggess.The other theory involves Howell's personal beliefs. Howell was an avid opponent of alcoholic beverage sales, and was thereby given the pejorative nickname of "Saint Jo", which managed to stick to both Howell and the town he founded. Saint Jo remained a "dry" city until a vote in May 2009 passed allowing for the legal sale of alcoholic beverages for off premises consumption.The Real Chisholm Trail Symposium will meet in St. Jo on May 6, 2017. Program participants include representatives of the West Texas Historical Association, the Trail Drivers Association, and the Fort Sill Museum in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Gary and Margaret Kraisinger, the joint authors of the 2004 book, The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail, 1874 - 1886, will also appear.