Camp San Saba closed in 1859, and many residents fled to safer areas to be protected against Indian depredations.

As the civilian population of Scabtown grew, the community was renamed after Fort McKavett, and the local economy began to thrive.

[4] The Army closed the fort in 1883, but the earlier relocation of native American tribes made the civilians feel safe enough to remain.

[5] The writer Robert E. Howard, a Texas history enthusiast, visited Fort McKavett in 1933, and wrote: "McKavett is fascinating - a village of ruins and semiruins, people living in the old unruined barracks and officers's quarters, among the remnants of other buildings which had not stood the test of time.

[6] The climate in this area is characterized by hot, dry summers and generally mild to cool winters.