Established as a shipping point when the Texas & Pacific Railroad was built across Bowie County in the 1870s, New Boston drew business from the original town of Boston, 4 miles south. The New Boston townsite was platted in 1876, and its post office opened on Jan. 26, 1877, with L. C. DeMorse as postmaster. Baptists organized a church there in 1880, Methodists in 1883, and the Church of Christ in 1943. The first building designed as a school was erected in 1886. New Boston men who served in the Texas Legislature were Blair McGee in 1889, Norman L. Dalby in 1909-1910, R. M. Hubbard in 1929 and 1931, and Joseph White, Jr. in 1939.