Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Captain N.A. Birge House in Sherman, Texas. Text: Connecticut native Noble Allan Birge (1832-1902) came to Texas prior to the Civil War. Settling in Jefferson with his wife and children, he was the first elected sheriff of Marion County in 1860. Following his service as a captain in the Confederate Army, Birge became a leading businessman in Jefferson. The owner of a livery stable and numerous city lots, he was an active civic leader involved in such endeavors as a railroad company and a navigation company. The Birge family moved to Grayson County in 1874, settling first on a farm north of Sherman. N.A. Birge soon became a prominent local businessman and industrialist, operating a large cotton brokerage firm and other cotton related businesses. This home was built for Birge in 1896, shortly after the Great Sherman Tornado destroyed an 1877 structure on the same site. Exhibiting both Queen Anne and Classical Revival style influences, the house features flamboyant Classical Revival touches in its gables with garlands, giant order Roman Ionic columns, pedimented (segmental arch) windows, and smaller columns that are half-Doric and half-turned. The home remained in the Birge family until 1969. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1988.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Carpenters Bluff Bridge in Denison, Texas. Text: Originally built as a railroad bridge for the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf (MO&G) Line, this landmark structure across the Red River continues to provide a transportation route between Grayson County, Texas and Bryan County, Oklahoma. MO&G officials determined they needed a line through Grayson County to connect there with other railways in order to secure better freight rates for their shipments from the Oklahoma coal mines. The new line, under construction by 1910, entered Texas via this bridge at the small community known as Carpenters Bluff. Completed in the late summer of 1910, the Carpenters Bluff Bridge was designed to withstand major floods such as the one in 1908 that had destroyed several area bridges. Its design also included a wagon shelf, an extra lane to serve travelers on foot and horseback, as well as horse-drawn vehicles, all of whom had to pay a toll for its use. In 1921, ownership passed to the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway Co., which maintained the line until 1965, when the company ceased operations in Texas due to declining rail traffic. The Texas & Pacific Railroad maintained the bridge for a brief time and then deeded it to the counties of Grayson and Bryan. County commissioners agreed to convert the structure for vehicular traffic, and upon completion of that work, the bridge was opened as a free public thoroughfare. Spanning the Red River since 1910, the Carpenters Bluff Bridge remains a significant part of Grayson County's history.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Central Christian Church in Sherman, Texas. Text: This congregation traces its beginnings to the late 1850s, when pioneer minister Benjamin Franklin Hall came to this area to preach and organize a church. Early meeting places included a brush arbor and a union meeting house at the local Masonic Hall. A sanctuary was built in 1875 on the corner of Montgomery and Houston Streets. A site on the corner of Travis and Cherry Streets was acquired in 1895, and a new church structure was erected in 1905. A part of Grayson County history, this church has served the people of Sherman for over 130 years.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for City of Tom Bean in Tom Bean, Texas. Text: Thomas Bean, a wealthy Bonham landowner and surveyor, donated fifty acres of land in southeast Grayson County to be used for a Branch Railroad line from Sherman to Commerce. Bean died in 1887; in that year the city of Tom Bean was established. Nearby Whitemound, which was bypassed by the railroad, lost its post office to Tom Bean's city in 1888; many Whitemound settlers moved to the new town. Mr. Bean's estate began to sell town lots surrounding the railroad in the 1890s. The city school was moved in 1891 from a one-room structure to a two-story building with an auditorium. Several Christian denominations, including the Church of Christ, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist, established churches in town. The city charter was signed in 1897 and the first mayor was Ice B. Reeves. In the early days of the 20th century, the city boomed. Within a few years, it boasted a grain company, a furniture company, a drugstore, a newspaper called the "Tom Bean Bulletin", a saloon, a dance hall, a movie theater, and the Tom Bean Social Club. As time progressed, the sharp increase in automobile travel and transport, and the decline of cotton as the principal crop of the area, led businesses to the larger cities of Denison and Sherman. Though never again the railroad boomtown of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the community enjoyed a growth spurt in the 1950s and 1980s, celebrating its centennial in 1987. The city of Tom Bean continues to thrive.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Coffman Cemetery at Loy Park in Denison, Texas. Text: While David Harman Coffman (1827-1888) served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-1865), his wife Harriet (Jones) and four sons came to north Texas from Missouri. After the war David joined the family and they bought this land. Although the earliest marked grave was dated 1867, the Coffmans deeded the one-acre plot to the county for a public burial ground in 1878. They gave the adjoining acre for a school and meetinghouse for Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. J. K. Miller, pioneer who owned land on which Denison was laid out, was buried here.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Colbert's Ferry in Denison, Texas. Text: Established about 1853 by Benjamin E. Colbert, across it came thousands of immigrants into Texas in the fifties. The stages of the Southern Overland Mail Line, which provided mail and passenger service between St. Louis and San Francisco crossed there, 1858 to 1861. Abandoned in 1931 when a highway bridge spanned the Red River.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Cold Springs Log Cabin School in Denison, Texas. Text: Pioneers, who were camped near a spring on property of William S. Reeves (1794-1879) while waiting for their land grants, build this one-room schoolhouse about 1855. The leader of the group was William L. Holder (1820-1876) later used the cabin as a residence. In 1974 the structure was moved to the Old Settlers Village and restored. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1977
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Collin McKinney (April 17, 1766 - September 8, 1861) in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: A pioneer leader of North Texas and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, Collin McKinney was born in New Jersey, a son of Scottish immigrant parents. In 1780 the family moved to Kentucky and in 1824 McKinney migrated across the Red River and settled near present Texarkana. In January, 1836, he was elected a delegate to the General Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos and there served on a committee of five that drafted Texas' Declaration of Independence from Mexico. On March 2, he signed the document. He also served on the committee which prepared the Constitution for the Republic of Texas. Later he served in the 1st, 2nd, and 4thCongress of the Republic. In private life, McKinney was leader in establishing the First Disciples of Christ Church in Texas. In 1846 he settled near the Grayson-Collin county line; this became his permanent residence. In 1792 he married Amy Moore; they had four children. He and his second wife Betsy Leake (Coleman), by whom he had six children, are both buried in this cemetery. Collin County and its seat, McKinney, were named in his honor. In 1936 Texas Centennial Commission had his house moved to Finch Park in McKinney.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Confederate States of America in Sherman, Texas. The text blends in with the coloring of the stone marker.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Courthouses of Grayson County in Sherman, Texas. Text: From pioneer log cabins to native Texas limestone structure, Grayson County courthouses have taken many shapes and sizes since the county's establishment in 1846. The first courthouse, a frame building on bald prairie a few miles west of the current county seat, was completed in 1847 for a cost of $232. It served for one year, until Sherman was relocated to this site, and the commissioners court ordered the construction of a log cabin on the southeast corner of the square. Neither it, nor the third courthouse (a two-story frame building on the north side of the square), nor the 1853 brick fourth courthouse were in service for any substantial period of time. An 1859 courthouse, intended to provide the county with a large and structurally sound facility, fell into disuse by the early 1870s. Thus, by the time the Houston & Texas Central Railroad reached Sherman in 1873, Grayson County had seen five courthouses in fewer than 40 years. The coming of the railroad was a boon to the local economy, and the availability of better building materials led to the construction of the majestic 1876 courthouse - a two-story edifice with tower supporting a cupola containing a clock and a bell - which served the county until it burned in 1930. Due to the depression, it was six years before the current limestone courthouse was built, in part with federal grants and loans. As centers of politics and government, Grayson County's seven courthouses have played a significant role in the county's history. (2001)
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Dannel Funeral Home in Sherman, Texas. Text: After training in the mortuary sciences in Chicago, John C. Dannel moved with his new wife, Flossie Louella Wade, to Sherman, Texas, where he purchased the Sherman Undertaking Company. John's father had owned and operated an undertaking parlor in Illinois, where John was born, and he followed his father into the business. The Dannels' first funeral parlor in Sherman was located at the corner of Walnut and Houston Streets, but the John C. Dannel Undertaking Company, as it was then known, moved into a renovated pool hall on the south side of the courthouse square in 1913. Dannel introduced the first motorized hearse to the area in 1917, but he was sued by the local livery stable which had until that time supplied horses and carriages for funerals. Dannel eventually won the case after a public fight that played out in the local newspaper. In 1923, Dannel hired architect John Tullock to design and build a structure dedicated specifically as a funeral home, one of the earliest such structures in the area. The building featured bedrooms for the family, as well as staterooms and a chapel for funerals. John C. Dannel's son, Charles O. Dannel II, joined the family business after graduation from the University of Texas. Charles died in 1961 and his father died in 1963. At that time John Carlton Dannel II assumed management of the family business, becoming the fourth generation of Dannel Funeral directors. John died in 1997, and his wife assumed ownership and management, continuing the family tradition of service to the citizens of Sherman and the surrounding community. Marker is property of the state of Texas. (2009)
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Davis-Ansley Log Cabin Home in Denison, Texas. Text: Blacksmith Micajah C. Davis (1790-1860), one of the founders of Grayson County, erected this cabin about 1840 at Iron Ore Creek Settlement near present Denison. The pioneer home was built of hand-hewn oak logs with a plank floor. Sold in 1870 to Josephus R. Ansley (1826-1873) and his wife Gilley (1826-1915), the cabin was later occupied by their son Will (1861-1952). Mr. and Mrs. John Summers purchased the structure in 1953 and donated it in 1972 to the Old Settlers Village. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Diamond Horse Ranch in Whitesboro, Texas. Text: Founded 1850 by James R. and John Diamond, joined later by their brother George, who had founded paper that today is Houston "Post". Station, 1858-1861, on Butterfield Stage Line. The Diamond brothers were political leaders and active in Texas Frontier Defense and masonry. James is buried here.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Dorchester School in Dorchester, Texas. Text: The community of Dorchester was founded on the railroad during the early years of the twentieth century. Two one-room country schools were established to provide for the education of the children of the families who moved to the area. The Dorchester School came into being about 1907 with the consolidation of these schools. Between 1913 and 1915, a two-story brick schoolhouse was constructed at this site. Its auditorium also served as a location for community gatherings. Under U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's WPA program, a new school building was constructed in 1940. Its gymnasium served as athletic facility, auditorium, and social center, with the Halloween carnival as an annual highlight. The high school was closed in 1949, but the Dorchester School continued to provide classes for elementary grade students until consolidation with the Howe School District in 1959. For more than 50 years, the Dorchester School played a central and vital role in the town. Some of its graduates returned to the school to become educators, and many have remained in Dorchester to become community leaders. (1985).
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Eleventh Texas Cavalry in Sherman, Texas. Text: In May 1861, a frontier unit was organized at Camp Reeves in Sherman. Drawing volunteers from Cooke, Grayson, Hopkins, Red River, Fannin, Collin, Titus, and Bowie Counties, the regiment began with nearly 900 men and officers. Initially led by the noted Colonel William Cocke Young, the unit fought its first battles in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, securing the territory for the Confederacy. In October of that year, the unit was inducted into Confederate service as the 11th Texas Cavalry and joined with other forces in Arkansas. Beginning in March 1862, at the Battle of Pea Ridge, or Elkhorn Tavern, the 11th Texas supported the Confederate Army. Following the battle, the unit became an infantry regiment, designated the 11th Texas Cavalry, Dismounted. For the remainder of the year, the troops were active in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In early 1863, the 11th Texas fought at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and shortly thereafter became a cavalry unit again. For the remainder of the war, the cavalry fought in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, participating in more than 100 battles and skirmishes. Notable engagements included Chickamauga, Knoxville, Dalton, Resaca, Allatoona Pass, Dallas/New Hope Church, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Savannah, and, finally, Bentonville, North Carolina. A small number of 11th Texas troops were present at the Confederate surrender of Durham Station, North Carolina, in April 1865. One of the most active Texas Confederate units, the 11th Texas Cavalry served with distinction throughout the Civil War, continuing until the last major Confederate offensive had ended.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Elliot Cemetery in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: David Elliott (d. 1909), for whom this cemetery is named, was a pioneer settler in the southern part of Grayson County. Born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in 1817, he joined the crew of a boat on the Mississippi River at an early age. He later served as a riverboat captain before his ordination as a Baptist minister. In 1847, two years after Texas became a state, the Rev. Mr. Elliott migrated to this area. Settling on land at this site, he noted evidence of earlier pioneers, including several graves with crude markers of a sandstone not common to the area. The stones contained no inscriptions or identifying marks. When David Elliott's daughter, Virginia F., died in 1855, he interred her near the pioneer graves. Later, as other settlers moved into the area, the Elliott Family Cemetery was opened for use as a public burial ground. From 1905 until 1950, it was maintained by Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church, of which the Rev. Mr. Elliott was an organizer. Others buried here include longtime residents, early teachers, and military veterans. Still used, the site serves as an important historical reminder of the individuals and families who opened this area for settlement. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Everheart-Canaan Cemetery in Whitewright, Texas. Text: Emanuel and Rachel Montgomery Everheart arrived here in 1848 with their son, William and members of her family. By 1850, the Everhearts owned 3,346 acres, including this land. Family history holds that the oldest burials here (in the northwest corner) date prior to 1853 and are those of the Everhearts' slaves. Pilot Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church, organized at Kentuckytown, moved to Everheart land a mile east of this site and became known as the Canaan church. Members utilized this cemetery and shared their sanctuary with a Methodist Episcopal congregation that moved from Pitman's Chapel. The oldest marked grave, from June 24, 1875, is that of W.H. Rumsower, one of several Confederate soliders buried here. Other burials include William C. Everheart, the Grayson County sheriff from 1876 to 1880 and later a deputy United States Marshal. Many of the pioneers of the Canaan community are buried in family plots here. Nell Arnoldi Everheart cared for the cemetery until her death in 1973, and the Everheart Cemetery Association later formed.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Fink, Texas. Text: A community grew up near Fort Johnson on the Texas Military Road (also known as the Shawnee Trail) in the 1840s. Earlier called Georgetown and Reevesville, the settlement became known as Fink when a post office (500 feet north) was established in 1897 and named for Fiedrick Finke (1858-1920), a German immigrant who had come to Grayson County in 1884. The post office was discontinued in 1908. Never incorporated, Fink was eventually included within the boundaries of Pottsboro. In the 1960s local residents began annual Fink celebrations. (1988)
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First Baptist Church of Bells in Bells, Texas. Text: Originally known as Bell Plain Baptist Church, this congregation was organized in 1879 at the home of J. A. Lindsay. The first services were conducted in the Bailey Junction Schoolhouse by the Rev. Isaac Reed. In 1884, soon after the school building burned, the members constructed a sanctuary on the property donated by A. T. Wilson. They worshiped there as the Baptist Church of Christ until about 1896, when high winds destroyed the structure. Later that year the congregation built a chapel at this location. The present sanctuary was completed in 1954.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First Christian Church in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: The predecessor of this church, the first Disciples of Christ congregation in Texas, was founded during the winter of 1841-1842 at McKinney's Landing in Bowie county near the Texas-Arkansas border. Collin McKinney, pioneer settler and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, was the leader of the Bowie county congregation, which had worshipped informally since 1831. Between 1844 and 1846 the group moved to Liberty (later called "Mantua"), three miles southwest of here. In 1846, under McKinney and J.B. Wilmeth, the congregation was reorganized as the "Liberty Church" with eighteen members. In 1854, the First Mantua Christian Church was built. In this early structure a rail in the center aisle separated men from women. No offering plate was passed - donations were placed on the communion table. Members constructed their own "hymn books" which doubled as souvenir and recipe books. Founders of churches in many cities including Galveston, Sherman, and Glen Rose were members of the Mantua Church. In 1887 the Mantua Group organized the church on this site in the infant town of Van Alstyne, located on the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. In 1891, the Mantua and Van Alstyne churches joined membership.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First Christian Church of Howe in Howe, Texas. Text: In the 1840s, settlers moved to this area as part of the Peters Colony. In the early 1870s, plans for the Houston and Texas Central Railroad coming through the settlement brought new residents to the community, known as Summit. Renamed for railroad official F.M. Howe, the town of Howe was established circa 1872. The same year, several residents met to organize what would become the first Christian Church of Howe. Founders and charter members included George Miller, J.A. Hughes, Henry Stevens, J.A. Matthews, W.T. Copeland, Si Collins, C.E. Wheat, L.M. Davis, J.C. McBee, Jim McCoy, and John Grigg, and members held their first Sunday school classes and worship services in homes, schools, and other buildings. The congregation grew and purchased this site in 1893 from John W. and Minnie B. Simpson. The church, led by trustees Charlie Hanna, J.W. Bearden, and John and Frank Grigg, constructed a building on the site. The structure was one of four Protestant sanctuaries constructed in Howe during that period. Each had similar vernacular designs showing Victorian influences. Features included fishscale shingling, steep-pitched gable roofs and neo-Gothic details. The First Christian Church congregation added an annex in 1925 and later purchased a parsonage on adjoining property. During its years as a congregation, the First Christian Church members held revivals in the churchyard and ministered and witnessed to those in the Howe community. In 1982, because of declining membership, the church disbanded, and members donated the sanctuary and site to the city, which prepared to use the facility for community purposes while maintaining a link to the community's past.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First Methodist Church of Whitewright in Whitewright, Texas. Text: This congregation traces its history to Sears Chapel (one mile southeast), a union church established in the late 1850s at the home of early settlers Christopher and Mary Sears. In 1876 the Sears family deeded the land on which the Sears Chapel Church building stood to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The village of Whitewright was established in 1878. The Methodist congregation associated with Sears Chapel organized the First Methodist Church of Whitewright in 1882. By 1885 the congregation had completed a sanctuary and a parsonage and was served by the Rev. W. M. Robbins, a circuit-riding Methodist preacher. A Sunday school, organized in 1886, averaged about 50 pupils during its early years of operation. A new sanctuary, built at this site in 1895, served the congregation for over 100 years. A new parsonage was completed in 1930, and in 1942 the church erected an education building. Major renovations to the church and education buildings were completed in 1979. The church, renamed First United Methodist Church in 1968, supports a variety of special annual events and continues to be active in many local and foreign outreach programs.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First Presbyterian Church in Sherman, Texas. Text: By 1970, the Presbyterian Church in the United States sent the Rev. R. E. Sherrill to organize new congregations in northeast Texas. He led a group of Sherman residents in forming a church in 1871, and by late 1874 the members had constructed a sanctuary on Travis Street, between Pecan and Mulberry Streets. Throughout the 1870s, the city of Sherman grew as a result of new rail lines through the community. The congregation, known as First Presbyterian Church, grew along with the city. By 1886, the church had established a chapel in a growing part of town, and in 1894 the congregation moved to a larger sanctuary at the corner of Travis and Mulberry. After Austin College moved to Sherman in 1876, First Presbyterian fostered a strong relationship with its students and faculty, leading to the creation of a new congregation, the College Park Presbyterian Church, closer to campus. First Church and the school's pre-ministerial students also established a short-lived Sunday school mission in the 1940s. During the 20th century, First Church's members maintained other educational services, including kindergarten and pre-school program, as well as foreign mission projects. For more than a century, First Presbyterian Church grew and served its community, building new facilities as needed. The congregation developed close ties with the Trinity United Presbyterian congregation (Sherman), with which it united in 1995, forming Covenant Presbyterian Church. Today, Covenant Presbyterian continues the programs and services established by its historic congregations in their decades of work and worship in Sherman.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First Presbyterian Church and Manse in Whitewright, Texas. Text: On October 30, 1853, a Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized in the home of Christopher Sears in nearby Lick Skillet (Pilot Grove). J. A. Zinn served as moderator, and T.E. Montgomery, J.D. Barbee, and J.T. Clark as first elders. The church established the Canaan and Sears Chapel congregations in the 1860s. Sears Chapel moved to Whitewright in 1883, built a sanctuary in 1899, and became First Presbyterian Church in 1907. This classical revival church building, erected by the congregation in 1930, features art glass windows and doors. The adjacent manse has provided housing for pastors since 1902.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First Texas Interurban in Grayson County, Texas. Text: Electric railways (trolleys) provided convenient travel between many Texas cities for more than forty years. The first interurban line was established in Grayson County, connecting the cities of Sherman and Denison. Founded in 1900 by Fred Fitch and John P. Crerar, the Denison and Sherman Railway began operations on May 1, 1901, with a single 10.5-mile track. The company built a power plant, offices, and a car barn near this site halfway between its passenger stations in the two cities. In order to provide water for the power plant, they built a dam below Tanyard Springs, creating a small lake, named Wood Lake. It provided recreation facilities for passengers on the line's excursion trains. The Texas Traction Company, founded in 1906, began construction of a second interurban line from Dallas to McKinney in 1906. Merged with the Denison and Sherman Railway in 1908. The company expanded its operations, eventually connecting a number of North Texas cities and changing its name to the Texas Electric Railway in 1917. The advent of automobile travel signaled the decline of the Texas interurbans by the 1930s. The last trained passed this site on December 31, 1948, on its route from Denison to Dallas.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First United Methodist Church in Tom Bean, Texas. Text: This congregation was organized in the mid-1880s, growing out of Brush Arbor meetings at the Cedar campground near Whitemound. The original church building at Whitemound was moved, in 1906, to Tom Bean, where it burned in 1924. Methodists worshiped in the Presbyterian church until it was destroyed by a tornado a short time later. A new edifice was built, serving both denominations until 1972. In 1974, the sanctuary was moved here, and the heritage of the Old Perrin Air Force Base Chapel was preserved when it was added to the facility.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for First United Methodist Church of Van Alstyne in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: Outgrowth of Liberty Class, formed 1847 for bible study and worship, in log cabin of Jim Creager (1.25 mi. s.) by the Rev. Joab Biggs, of the Dallas Methodist circuit, and M.F. Cole. In 1855, after a rainstorm that detained quarterly conference delegates to listen to an all-night sermon, the Rev. Y.S. McKinney preached for three weeks and had 60 conversions. The enlarged class moved to Mantua, where it built a frame chapel on the town square and was renamed Mt. Zion Methodist Church. At founding of Van Alstyne on Houston & Texas Central Railroad in 1873, Mt. Zion moved its building into town, to a site now in Van Alstyne Cemetery. By 1890 membership exceeded 400. The congregation in 1893 moved again, erecting a larger building at Waco and Jefferson Streets, and changing name to First Methodist Church. In this sanctuary in 1894 there was organized the first district Epworth League of the Southern Methodist Church. Here in 1912 ex-President Theodore Roosevelt gave an address, and in 1917 one of Texas' earliest Boy Scout Troops was formed. Present sanctuary was completed and dedicated in 1917, with dedicatory sermon given by the Rev. Sam R. Hay. The present name was given after a National Ecumenical Accord was reached in 1968.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Fred Douglass School in Sherman, Texas. Text: Named for the famed 19th century African American orator Frederick Douglass, the Fred Douglass School was created as one of Sherman's first three public schools in 1879. Two houses one block west of this site were rented for the education of the area's African American children. In the first years of the Fred Douglass School the number of students was about 85. By 1907 the school's population was 350. Fire plagued the Fred Douglass School: in 1904 and again in 1919 the wood buildings were destroyed. In 1920 a three-story brick structure was erected at the corner of college and East Streets. The school grew rapidly and by the 1939 plans for expansion were necessary. In 1943, educational improvements began to take place. More faculty members had advanced degrees and the curriculum was expanded to include African American history, business and vocational courses. A national honor society chapter was formed, and the sports program was expanded. A modern building was erected in 1957; ten years later, the school district became fully integrated, and the Fred Douglass School became the district's special education facility. In the late 20th century it remained the center for a variety of programs for all Sherman students. (1967)
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Grayson Bible Baptist Church in Sherman, Texas. Text: On the evening of Monday, June 22, 1931, John R. Rice began a revival service on the Grayson County Courthouse Square. The revival took place where the 1870s courthouse had stood. That building was burned to the ground in May 1930 during mob violence that caused the death of an African American man who had been accused of a crime. Businesses and homes of African American residents were also destroyed. The revival's location - in the center of Sherman - was a perfect one. Large crowds of people attended, and the revival lasted for over a month. When rice asked attendees to present themselves to organize a new church, forty people answered the call, and on July 16, 1931, the fundamentalist Baptist Church was organized. On the evening of July 28, a tank was constructed on the courthouse lawn and a baptismal service was conducted. The congregation soon built a tabernacle at the corner of south Montgomery and East Cherry, and the first service in the building was held on Sunday, September 12, 1931. The church has changed locations several times through the years, and the current structure was constructed in 2004 on East Highway 82. During the late 1940s the church's name changed to Central Baptist Church, and again changed in 1973 to Grayson Bible Baptist Church. The church has actively supported mission work and outreach. During the 1950s a church bus was sent to nearby Perrin Air Force Base to bring soldiers to church services. Grayson Christian Academy was established in 1973 as an outreach ministry of the church. Marker is property of the state of Texas. (2009)
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Grayson College in Whitewright, Texas. Text: Original Campus Site. Founders: H.L. Piner - F.E. Butler, J.F. Anderson - J.L. Truett. Erected by Ex-students' association.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Greenwood Cemetery in Bells, Texas. Text: Burial site for early settlers of Fannin and Grayson counties. Commonly called "Jenkins Cemetery" - as access was through John J. Jenkins' farm. First usage date is unknown; oldest stones have had lettering erased by weather. Earliest dated stone is for Jas. P. Montgomery, who died in 1869. On March 31, 1882, W. S. Roddy formally deeded the cemetery site in trust for local citizens. Wooden markers at many graves were destroyed by grass fire in 1935. The neglected cemetery was restored in 1972 through efforts of Lt. Col. and Mrs. Wm. K. Langner, descendants of John J. Jenkins.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Hagerman in Pottsboro, Texas. Text: In 1904, James Patillo (J.P.) Smith platted streets here in a 10-acre wheat field and established the town of Hagerman, named for railroad attorney James P. Hagerman. The town consisted of 250 residents, a cotton gin, school, church, post office, railroad depot, and several businesses by 1910. The town prospered and grew to contain three churches and a three-teacher school. However, in the 1920s residents and businesses began to abandon the area when it became known that the creation of Lake Texoma would completely inundate the town. Lake Texoma was created in 1943. Sesquicentennial of Texas statehood 1845-1995.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Hall Furniture Building in Sherman, Texas. Text: Former Missourian and Civil War veteran Rufus Gaines Hall established a Sherman Dry Goods Store in 1868. The company prospered, in part because it sent 30 notion wagons to sell supplies to settlers on rural farms across 13 counties in North Texas. Hall's son, Dr. Hugh Logan Hall, joined the firm in 1872. In 1892, Dr. Hall and his father bought this property. Five generations of Halls maintained the growing business in this location for a century. Originally two buildings, the west side of the business was built in 1876 and the other in 1885; the buildings were united in 1936. A noteworthy example of an art deco commercial building, its asymmetrical facade features the bold use of bands of structural glass with black and ivory chevron stripes. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2002.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Hendrix Cemetery in Sherman, Texas. Text: A native of North Carolina, John Hendrix (1798-1893) came to Texas in 1846 with his wife, Ruth (Stradef) (1804-1882), their children, and seven other families. Their first camp in the area is marked by a large boulder in this cemetery. Hendrix ran successful farming and nursery operations and became a prominent and influential citizen of Grayson County. Shortly after his arrival, Hendrix established this cemetery, located on land he acquired after his settlement here. The one-acre burial ground eventually was deeded to Grayson County. The first known burial, that of the infant son of M. and D. Perdue, took place in 1848. John and Ruth Hendrix are buried here as is their son Josiah Tompkins and daughter Nancy Hendricks Jennings. There are approximately forty-five marked graves in the Hendrix Cemetery, many date from the last half of the nineteenth century and some display illegible inscriptions. An unmarked section in the Northwest corner of the graveyard was reserved for slave burials. Used for more than one hundred years by Hendrix family relatives and descendants. Close friends and associates, the cemetery is a significant reminder of early Grayson County history.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Hiram Lodge No. 433, A.F. & A.M. in Collinsville, Texas. Text: Chartered on June 7, 1875, Hiram Lodge first met in a building on the original Collinsville town square. Since 1881, when that building burned, the organization has met in six locations and shared facilities with local businesses and a school. In 1881, when the Texas & Pacific Railroad came through the area, Hiram Lodge, along with most of the town, relocated to be near the railroad tracks. Civic activities have included aid to Masonic widows and orphans, support of war bonds, and assistance to schools and the Scottish Rite Hospital for crippled children.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Hopewell Baptist Church in Denison, Texas. Text: In 1874 this church was founded to serve the black community of this growing railroad town. Ministers from several Baptist churches in the county helped organize the new fellowship some of the charter members transferred from St. John Baptist church in Preston Bend. In 1877 fire destroyed the congregation's first meeting place. A frame building erected at this site was replaced in 1891 by a brick edifice. The present church was begun in 1915. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall spoke here in 1950. When Hopewell was host to the NAACP Regional Convention.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Howe Lodge No. 430 A.F. & A.M. in Howe, Texas. Text: Constituted on June 5, 1875, this lodge was organized in the early Grayson County community of Farmington (5 Mi. SW). Members voted to move the lodge to Howe in 1887, after the earlier settlement was bypassed by the railroad. In Howe, the first lodge hall was constructed above the early Methodist church chapel. Later facilities were built as the lodge grew. Part of its growth came as a result of a merger with the Dorchester Lodge in 1966. Numerous war veterans and civic leaders have been members here. Texas sesquicentennial 1836-1986.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Jabez and Harriet Haning in Howe, Texas. Text: Jabez Haning (1827-1883) came to Grayson County with his family in 1846. In the 1850s Jabez Haning obtained a grant of 320 acres of land from the Peters Colony. His land was located about nine miles south of the town of Sherman. Harriet Campbell (1834-1880) and Jabez Haning were married in 1854 and established a farm. In 1873 the Houston & Texas Central Railway established a line south of Sherman. The route went through the Haning property, and they donated land for a town site in 1876. The town was named Howe, probably in honor of a railroad official. (1997)
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for James Nelson Dickson in Sherman, Texas. Text: Born and educated in Grayson County, James Nelson Dickson began his long association with county government in 1914 as deputy tax assessor. Following a 1930 courthouse fire, he worked to replace destroyed records, including important school bond papers. In 1945, the commissioners court named him to fill an unexpired term as county judge, a position he held through subsequent elections until 1962. Upon retirement, he devoted his efforts to the promotion of local heritage through museums, events, and organizations, and compiled a history of Grayson County schools. Recorded - 2005.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Jesse Elvis Hendricks log cabin in Denison, Texas. Text: A native of Missouri, Jesse Elvis Hendricks (1837-1920) came to Grayson County in 1846. In 1863-64, he built this log home five miles southeast of this site. It was originally a one-room cabin with a loft, but Hendricks and his wife, Susan Matilda (Dumas), added more rooms about 1870 after the birth of their fourth child. The Hendricks' log cabin was moved to this site and restored in 1978. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1983.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Jesse P. Loving in Sherman, Texas. Text: Missouri native Jesse "Jess" P. Loving came to Texas with his family in 1847. They settled first near relatives in Denton County, and moved to Sherman in Grayson County, and moved to Sherman in Grayson County in 1852. Loving married Lydia Ellen Bomar in 1859. A Confederate veteran, he became a prominent civic leader, serving multiple terms as county treasurer and state representative. In 1879 Loving was the driving force behind the establishment of the old settlers association of Grayson County. Jesse and Lydia Loving were charter members of the Houston Street Christian Church and were the parents of nine children. Recorded - 2000.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Judge C. C. Binkley (January 12, 1826 - March 15, 1886) in Sherman, Texas. Text: Christopher Columbus Binkley came to Texas in 1852 and became a law partner of Sherman's first mayor. He served as district judge from 1870 to 1874 and Republican national committeeman for many years. As a founder and the first President of the Merchants and Planters Bank, Judge Binkley was the financial leader of the county and was considered one of the most trusted and outstanding businessmen of his day. Upon his death, Judge Binkley was acknowledged as Sherman's leading citizen. Recorded - 1997.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Kentucky Town in Whitewright, Texas. Text: When first settled in 1830s was known as Annaliza. Renamed by Kentucky emigrants in 1858. Unique layout gave town protection against Indian attacks. On freight and stage routes. "Sacred Harp," a robust frontier gospel style of singing and composition began here. During Civil War was Quantrill gang rendezvous.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Kidd-Key College and Music Conservatory in Sherman, Texas. Text: Established in 1875 as North Texas Female College, a finishing school for young ladies and operated by North Texas Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Recharted 1919 as a junior college and music conservatory; renamed in memory of the famed educator Mrs. Lucy Ann Kidd-Key, school president, 1888 to 1916. Educational program emphasized music, literature and the fine arts. Through its many students and excellent faculty, Kidd-Key exerted strong cultural influence on the Sherman area as well as much of the nation. (1967)
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Lee Simmons (1873 - 1957) in Sherman, Texas. Text: Ran for sheriff and request of citizens of Denison, elected in 1912 and served two years. Was appointed by Governor Pat Neff to special commission in 1920s to inspect Texas prison system; named by Governor Dan Moody to prison board, 1928; in 1930 became general manager of prison system, where he made an outstanding record. Organized prison rodeo, died before completing autobiography "Assignment Huntsville".
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Lone Star Masonic Lodge No. 403, A.F. & A.M. in Denison, Texas. Text: Organized a year after Denison was founded, Lone Star Masonic Lodge was chartered June 6, 1874. Meetings were held in several locations before the construction of this lodge hall. The Northern half of the building was erected in 1900 and the Southern portion in 1915. A bracketed eave dominates the top of the brick structure. The lodge hall was dedicated on the night of Dec. 31, 1915, with ceremonies extending into New Year's Day 1916. Recorded Texas Historical Landmark - 1985.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Lyon House in Sherman, Texas. Text: Built before 1897, this Victorian house was designed by German-born John Tollouch and occupied by hardware merchant George E. Hardwicke (1855-1923) until 1899. The property was purchased in 1902 by Dupont Lyon (1876-1946). Then an officer in the U.S. Army. He became a dairy farmer and lumberman after settling here, and served as Mayor of Sherman (1913-15). Lyon joined the army again in World War I and attained the rank of Major before retiring in 1932. In the 1930s, Lyon made minor repairs and additions to the house. It was purchased and restored in 1974 by Robert J. Tate.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Mame Roberts (August 19, 1883 - December 24, 1976) in Howe, Texas. Text: The daughter of James M. and Martha Sue (Baxter) Roberts, Mame Roberts lived her entire life in or near the community of Howe. Largely self-taught, she worked as a substitute teacher in the lower grades at the Howe public schools in the early 1900s before turning to her life's work-promoting civic improvements and beautification. As the writer of a weekly column in the Howe Messenger, Mame Roberts promoted her hometown and encouraged its beautification. Her campaign to make Howe the "Prettiest Little Town in Texas" motivated other small Texas towns to take similar action. A series of articles in the Dallas Morning News provided step-by-step instructions for carrying out beautification efforts, and she was in great demand as a speaker at garden club gatherings throughout this part of the state. Mame's work attracted the attention of Life magazine and Reader's Digest, and she was named "Woman of the Day" on May 14, 1949, on Eleanor and Anna Roosevelt's National Radio Program. Her leadership positions included: President of the Grayson County Federation of Women's Club; President of the Texoma Redbud Association, which urged the planting of Redbuds along highways in Texas and Oklahoma; and founder and president of the Howe Sesame Club. Her work, which spanned the decades before and after World War II, is a significant part of the civic history of Howe and of all the towns that put her lessons into action.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Mantua Masonic Lodge No. 209, A.F. & A.M. in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: The organizational meeting for this masonic lodge was held on Feb. 7, 1857, on the second story of H. N. Walcott's store building in the village of Mantua (2 mi. sw). With District Deputy Grand Master J.J. Harrison officiating, the first meeting was attended by J.M. Enloe, W.A. Portman, J.L. Leslie, W.M. Akens, A.J. McDonough, A.C. White, H.N. Walcott, J.L. Lovejoy, G.W. Strother, and J.S. Stewart. Other charter members of the lodge included younger Scott McKinney, who had laid out the townsite several years earlier, and James W. Throckmorton, who later served as governor of Texas. A two-story lodge building was completed in 1859. The first masons met on the upper floor, while the first story housed a private school, the Mantua Seminary. After Van Alstyne was established on the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1872, most of the businesses and other establishments in Mantua, including the masonic lodge, moved to the new town. The lodge members held meetings in various locations until 1898, when they purchased the Carter Building on the town square. In 1976 the lodge moved to its current location. Mantua Masonic Lodge No. 209 has provided valuable service to schools, churches, and needy persons, and remains an important part of the history of this area.
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Mary Florence Cowell (November 10, 1860 - July 13, 1940) in Whitesboro, Texas. Text: Mary Florence (Tinsman) Cowell and her husband S. B. Cowell came to Texas from Missouri in 1900. Mrs. Cowell was a member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic educational organization founded in 1869 at Wesleyan College in Iowa and dedicated to educational opportunities for women. Her friend Dora Hallock, P.E.O. Supreme Chapter Organizer, visited Whitesboro in 1902. Together they organized Chapter A, the first P.E.O chapter in Texas, in the Cowell home on this site. Mary Florence Cowell was elected president of Chapter A and was instrumental in the organization of the Texas State chapter of the P.E.O. in Whitesboro in 1928. Elected the first Texas State president of the organization, she eventually became known as "the mothers of P.E.O. in Texas."
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