Is Moody, Texas in Bell County?

No. Moody is in southern McLennan County, and the county seat is Waco. It is close to the Bell County line, and Temple is the nearest larger city, which is why people mix it up. Some rural addresses with a Moody mailing address may sit in a neighboring county, so check the parcel.

What school district is Moody in?

Moody is served by Moody ISD. The district has Moody Elementary School, Moody Middle School and Moody High School, along with a pre-kindergarten program. The mascot is the Bearcats. The district also takes in parts of Coryell and Bell counties, so check any rural address with the district.

How far is Moody from Temple and Waco?

Moody is about 18 miles from Temple by State Highway 317 and about 24 miles from Waco. Belton is about 19 miles and McGregor is about 10 miles. Interstate 35 is about 8 miles east on FM 107 at Eddy.

How far is Moody from Fort Hood?

It is about 37 road miles from Moody to Killeen and about 42 miles to the main gate at Fort Hood. Drive it at the hour you would really be on the road before you commit to that commute.

What is Moody, Texas known for?

Moody is known as a railroad and cotton town founded in 1881, for the Moody Cotton Harvest Festival held downtown each September, for the Moody Bearcats, and as the address of Mother Neff State Park on the Leon River west of town.

Is Mother Neff State Park the first Texas state park?

It is often called that. Isabella Neff left six acres on the Leon River to the state in 1921, and Governor Pat Neff added 250 acres in 1934. Texas Parks and Wildlife describes it as one of the first parks in the state park system. It opened in 1937.

How did Moody get its name?

The town was named for William Lewis Moody, a director of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. The railroad built through in 1881 and bypassed the older settlement of Perry, two miles north. Perry's people and its post office moved to the new town.

Who provides water and electricity in Moody?

Inside the city limits, the City of Moody provides water and wastewater service. Outside the city, homes are commonly on a rural water supply corporation such as Elm Creek Water Supply, or on a private well. Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative serves rural McLennan County. Confirm both by address.

Moody, TX Homes, Schools and Area Guide | Bruce Burgess, Champion Realty

Moody at a glance

A bench under a painted mural on a storefront in Moody — A bench beneath a mural in downtown Moody. Photo: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress.

Moody sits in the southern end of McLennan County, close to the Bell County line. State Highway 317 runs through town on its way from Belton and Temple north to McGregor. FM 107 crosses it here and runs east to Interstate 35 at Eddy. People often assume Moody is in Bell County because Temple is the nearer big town. It is not. County business here goes through Waco.

The town itself is small. There is a downtown on Avenue E, a city hall, a public library, three school campuses and a festival every September. Past the city limits the land opens up into farms, pasture and homes on acreage.

A short history

Moody started in 1881, when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built its line between Temple and Fort Worth. The town was named for William Lewis Moody, a director of the railroad. The older settlement was Perry, about two miles north, which had been settled in the early 1850s and had a post office from 1855.

The railroad bypassed Perry. People moved their homes and businesses to the new town on the tracks, and the post office moved from Perry to Moody in November 1881. By 1884 Moody had four churches, four cotton gins, two steam gristmills and a school. An independent school district was formed in 1889, and residents voted to incorporate in 1901.

Homes and housing in Moody

Housing in Moody comes in two kinds. In town you find houses on city streets, on city water and sewer, on the blocks around Avenue E and the school campuses. The town dates to the 1880s and grew through the 1920s, so ages and conditions vary a great deal from one street to the next. Look at each house on its own terms.

Outside the city limits it is country property: farm and ranch land, and homes on acreage along the farm roads and county roads. Out there you are usually dealing with a rural water supply corporation or a private well, a septic system, and a co-op electric line. Those details matter as much as the house.

Where the homes are

Moody does not have a long list of named subdivisions to compare, so it helps to think in areas. The town blocks sit around the SH 317 and FM 107 crossing. West on FM 107 the land rolls toward the Leon River and Mother Neff State Park. East on FM 107 is the short run to Eddy and I-35. South on SH 317 the road crosses into Bell County toward Temple and Belton.

A Moody mailing address and ZIP code 76557 reach well past the city limits. An address that says Moody can be outside the city, on a different water system, or even across a county line. Confirm the county, the school district and the utilities for the exact parcel.

Schools

Moody is served by Moody ISD. The district is based in McLennan County and reaches into parts of Coryell and Bell counties. It runs an elementary, a middle school and a high school, plus a pre-kindergarten program, and the teams are the Bearcats. Grade spans below are from the federal school directory. Check with the district for the current year and to confirm that a given address is zoned to Moody ISD.

Moody Pre-K: Pre-kindergarten, Moody ISD
Moody Elementary School: Kindergarten to grade 4, 200 Avenue D, Moody ISD
Moody Middle School: Grades 5 to 8, 107 Cora Lee Lane, Moody ISD
Moody High School: Grades 9 to 12, 11862 S Lone Star Parkway, Moody ISD. Home of the Bearcats

Parks, lakes and the outdoors

A round stone lookout tower at Mother Neff State Park — The stone lookout tower at Mother Neff State Park. Photo: Larry D. Moore, CC BY 4.0.

Mother Neff State Park is about 7 miles west of town on the Leon River, with a Moody address at 1921 Park Road 14. Isabella Neff left the first six acres to the state in 1921, and her son, Governor Pat Neff, later gave 250 acres more. Texas Parks and Wildlife calls it one of the first parks in the state park system. You will often hear it called the first Texas state park.

Civilian Conservation Corps Company 817 built the park from 1934 to 1938 out of local limestone and timber, including a stone water tower with a lookout deck. Today it has a visitor center, a camping loop with 20 full hookup sites and close to 3.5 miles of trails. The lower, river end has flooded more than once, and the tent sites near the river were listed as closed for flood damage when we checked.

For boating, the upper end of Belton Lake is south of Moody. The Corps of Engineers parks where Highway 36 crosses the lake are the closest ramps.

Mother Neff State Park: Texas Parks and Wildlife. Camping, hiking trails, CCC stone tower, on the Leon River west of Moody
Iron Bridge Park: Corps of Engineers, uplake on the Leon River channel of Belton Lake. Boat ramp, no fee
White Flint Park: Corps of Engineers, upper west shore of Belton Lake off Highway 36. Camping and boat ramp, fee
Owl Creek Park: Corps of Engineers, Owl Creek arm of Belton Lake off Highway 36. Boat ramp, no fee
Leona Park: Corps of Engineers, upper east shore at the Highway 36 bridge. Boat ramp, no fee

Things to do, shopping and dining

Daily life in Moody runs on a small scale. Downtown is along Avenue E, where city hall and the festival grounds are. Moody has a community library. School sports and school events fill a good part of the calendar.

For a full grocery run, medical appointments, big stores and most restaurants, people drive to Temple or Waco, or to McGregor for something closer. That is a normal part of living here, so drive the route before you decide.

Annual events

The Moody Cotton Harvest Festival is the town's big day. It was established in 1999 and is run by a local volunteer board. It takes over downtown each fall.

Moody Cotton Harvest Festival: A Saturday in late September, downtown on Avenue E. Held since 1999

Employers and the local economy

Moody grew up on cotton. McLennan County farmers planted it heavily from the 1880s into the 1950s, and Moody had four gins within three years of its founding. Farming and ranching are still what you see on the land around town.

Inside town, the school district and the city are steady local employers. Most other work is a drive away, in Temple, McGregor, Waco or at Fort Hood.

Getting around

SH 317 is the main road. It runs from Belton through Temple and Moody, then on to McGregor, Crawford and Valley Mills. FM 107 runs from Highway 36 southeast of Gatesville, past the turn for Mother Neff State Park, through Moody and on to I-35 at Eddy. FM 2601 leaves SH 317 just south of the county line and heads west into northern Bell County.

By road it is about 10 miles to McGregor, about 8 miles to I-35 at Eddy, about 18 miles to Temple, about 19 miles to Belton, about 24 miles to Waco and about 28 miles to Gatesville. Killeen is about 37 miles and the main gate at Fort Hood is about 42 miles. Austin is about 79 miles. There is no city bus service to plan around, so this is a place where you drive.

Utilities and practical details

Inside the city, the City of Moody provides water and wastewater service. New accounts start at City Hall, 606 Avenue E, phone 254-853-2314. The city contracts with Waste Connections, which runs curbside bulk and brush pickup on Wednesdays. Moody has its own police department and municipal court.

Outside the city, water often comes from a rural water supply corporation. Elm Creek Water Supply, based in Moody, is one that serves country roads around town. Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative serves rural parts of McLennan, Bell and Coryell counties. Ask the seller which water and electric provider serves the address, because it changes from one road to the next.

Buying and selling in Moody

Bruce Burgess is a Temple native who has held a Texas real estate license since 1991 and has owned Champion Realty, in Belton, since 2007. These are the things he would have you check in Moody.

Before you buy

Confirm the county for the exact parcel: Moody is in McLennan County, but a rural address with a Moody mailing address may sit in a neighboring county, which changes the appraisal district and the county offices you deal with.
Confirm the school district by address, since Moody ISD covers parts of three counties and its lines do not follow the city limits.
Outside the city limits, find out whether the home is on a rural water supply corporation or a private well, and have the septic system inspected.
Land near the Leon River and the creeks that feed it can be in a mapped floodplain; Mother Neff State Park's river section has flooded repeatedly, so pull the FEMA flood map for any low-lying tract.
Parts of McLennan County have black, waxy clay soil and other parts have shallow, stony soil, so have the foundation checked and ask what the soil is on acreage you plan to build on.

Before you sell

Buyers of country property will ask for the survey, the well or water supply account, the septic records and the electric provider, so gather those before you list.
Moody sits between Temple, McGregor and Waco, so state the road miles to each plainly in the listing.
State the county and the school district clearly in the listing, because out-of-area buyers often assume Moody is in Bell County.

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