Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Milano, TX

Milano is a small city in Milam County in Central Texas, located at the intersection of U.S. Route 79 and State Highway 36, about 12 miles southeast of Cameron, the county seat.

The International-Great Northern Railroad laid out the original townsite of Milano in 1874, about a mile and a half west of the present site, and a post office opened there the same year.

Local tradition offers two explanations for the name "Milano": it was either borrowed from Milan, Italy, or it was meant to be "Milam" and the Post Office Department garbled it or changed it because another Milam, Texas, already existed.

In 1881 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built Milano Junction about two miles east of the original town, and the community shifted to the junction — the old site became known as "Old Milano."

By the late 1880s Milano was a commercial hub of about 500 residents and a shipping point for cotton and hides produced in the area.

Truck farming became a Milano mainstay in the 1920s, with tomatoes, watermelons, and cantaloupes as the principal crops.

Milano reached its population peak of about 920 residents in 1939 but was not incorporated until the early 1980s.

The 2020 census counted 390 people in Milano, living in 139 households.

Milano is served by the Milano Independent School District, which operates Milano Elementary School, Milano Junior High School, and Milano High School.

Country music star Johnny Horton was killed by a drunk driver on Highway 79 near Milano on November 5, 1960, while driving home from a performance at Austin's Skyline Club.