Private Collection of Carolyn West - 315 Matching Results

Search Results

[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Allison Cemetery]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Allison Cemetery in Whitesboro, Texas. Text: Believed to date from the mid-1800s, Allison Cemetery occupies three acres of land. The oldest dated marker is that of a 53-year-old man who was buried in 1865, though some headstones have been moved or were destroyed over time, and older graves may be noted only by roughly shaped rocks. Most of those interred on this site are descendants of H. Dennis, Sr., and other area families. Notable graves include a family of influenza victims believed to have been buried in 1858 and several war veterans. Managed and maintained by descendants, the cemetery is still in use.
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: Allison Mayfield]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for Allison Mayfield in Sherman, Texas. Text: Opened law practice here, 1884, became an assistant attorney general of Texas, 1893. Won election, 1897, to railroad commission, served 26 years - 16 years as chairman. The commission had been created in 1891 to regulate shipping rates and practices. In his term as chairman, oil and gas regulation - a major responsibility - began with jurisdiction over pipelines, 1917. In 1919 the legislature made the commission responsible for conservation of oil and gas. In the 1920's proration began. Complete regulation came in the 1930's with the 1,700,000 barrel-a-day production in East Texas. Backed by Texas Rangers, the commission closed the field until conservation rules could be revised. Commission policies were acclaimed when in World War II Texas was able to supply the allies with great stores of oil necessary for victory. The commission's goal is to prevent waste and protect oil and gas reserves by orderly regulation of exploration, production, and transportation. Such men as Chairman Mayfield set high ethical standards that have continued in the commission, causing it to merit the confidence of the people and of the petroleum industry.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Andrew L. Randell]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Andrew L. Randell in Sherman, Texas. Text: A native of Denison, Andrew Randell graduated from Princeton University and the University of Texas. He opened a law practice in Sherman and was active in civic and church affairs. He and his wife Vera (Harrison) had two daughters. It was in Freemasonry that he marked his greatest achievements, serving as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Texas; as executive secretary of the Masonic service association of the U.S., leading national disaster relief efforts, as a Director of the Dallas Masonic Homes, and as an advocate for Masonic Education programs, publication and ideals. Recorded - 2005.
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: Austin College]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for Austin College in Sherman, Texas. Text: Oldest college in Texas operating under original charter. Founded in 1849 by the Presbytery of Brazos under leadership of Daniel Baker. Named for Stephen F. Austin, Father of Texas. Opened in Huntsville with Sam Houston, Anson Jones, and Henderson Yoakum - Texas statesmen - among original trustees. Bell donated by Houston hangs in present chapel. For years competence in Greek and Latin was required for admittance. In 1855 opened the first law school in state, and became the first college in Texas to award graduate degrees in 1856. Had the first chapter in Texas of any national fraternity (Phi Delta Theta). Remained open during Civil War although most students joined Confederate Army. Post-war problems and epidemics caused move to Sherman in 1876. Oldest building is Luckett Hall (1908). The first building on the campus having been destroyed by arson in 1913. Erected first college Y.M.C.A. building west of the Mississippi River, 1911. In World War I, cooperated with the student army training corps and admitted first coeds. In World War II, aided army air training corps. Founded to serve youth in pioneer families, college new enrolls students from all over the world and is a leader in creative Christian liberal arts education. (1970)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Barron Cemetery]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Barron Cemetery in Collinsville, Texas. Text: Named for John Barron (1831-87), a Civil War veteran who came here from Virginia and bought a good farm in 1870. Married first to Delilah Ward (d. 1860s), then to Margaret McElroy, he had fifteen children. About 1875 he gave land for a church-school building and this community cemetery, where he and some other members of his family were later buried. William Jenkins (1829-78), who was also a Confederate veteran, is earliest known among some six dozen interments. Burial ground, closed about 1920 is cared for by descendants who have formed (1971) the Barrom Cemetery Association.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Barron-Veazey House]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Barron-Veazey House in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: Influenced by the prairie school of architecture in its form and its large, overhanging eaves, this home was built in 1905 for the family of Walter and Pearl Barron. A local merchant and banker, Barron sold the house in 1920 to hardware merchant R. Lee Veazey, in whose family it remained until 1965. Classical details such as the wraparound porch, fluted Corinthian columns, and Sullivanesque frieze along the roofline are also significant.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Bennett-Richardson House]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Bennett-Richardson House in Whitesboro, Texas. Text: This residence was built in 1902 for the family of local business leader Bland Bennett and Grace (Dunlap) Bennett. Exhibiting Victorian and classical revival detailing, its prominent features include a 1-story wraparound porch with a pedimented primary entrance, a hopped roof, and corbelled chimneys. Its transitional floor plan is reminiscent of both center passage and American foursquare plans. The H.S. Richardson family purchased the house in 1942.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Bethel Baptist Church]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Bethel Baptist Church in Whitewright, Texas. Text: This congregation grew from an early prayer group established in the Bethel community in 1875. A small group met in the schoolhouse, which also served as a community center, for weekly prayer and bible study. On April 16, 1884, nine men and women met to organize the Bethel Baptist Church. These charter members were Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Autrey, Mr. and Mrs. E. F. Jones, and Mrs. Sarah Miller. The Rev. Bob Thomas served as first pastor. The small congregation grew rapidly and soon had more than 150 members. In 1897, this property was deeded to Bethel Baptist Church by Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Autrey, in the same year. During the pastorate of J. M. Harder, a one-room sanctuary was constructed. A 1918 storm damaged the building, but it was repaired and the congregation continued to worship there until another was constructed in 1937. Throughout its history, Bethel Baptist Church has served as a focal point for the small community. The congregation continues to maintain the ideals and traditions of its pioneer founders.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Binion Homestead]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Binion Homestead in Pilot Grove, Texas. Text: Georgia Natives Thomas Noel Binion (1827-1900) and Pauline Walker Binion (1829-1915) migrated to Texas after the Civil War. They moved to the Oxford community in Grayson County where they purchased this 107-acre farm in 1871. Thomas and Pauline died, they were buried in the family cemetery Northwest of their homestead. The farm was inherited by their children. Eddie Binion became a merchant in nearby Pilot Grove, but moved back to the family homestead with his sister Sarah after the death of his wife. Eddie raised sugar cane and operated a syrup mill here from the turn of the century until the 1940s. The mill first used mules to operate the crusher, and wood fires to cook the molasses. When fuel oil and coal were readily available in the 1920s, a piston engine replaced the mule, and coal replaced the wood fires. During the depression years, cane continued to arrive but money to purchase coal and fuel oil diminished. The mule was reinstated, but the Binion syrup mill foundered in the 1940s. The mill was dismantled and the iron and steel sold for use in World War II. (1996)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Binkley Hotel]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Binkley Hotel in Sherman, Texas. Text: In the 1870s, a joint stock company was organized to construct a hotel in Sherman. One of the largest stockholders was Judge C.C. Binkley, a community leader for whom the hotel would be named. Binkley was also president of the Merchants and Planters (M&P) Bank, established in Sherman in 1872. The first two hotels at this site burned, and the second fire was reportedly set to cover an attempted robbery. The next hotel was built by the Sherman Hotel Company and operated by bank president C.B. Dorchester. The bank, then the Merchants and Planters National Bank, served farmers, ranchers, counties, and Indian tribes, becoming a financial hub for Texas and Oklahoma, and the close ties between bank and hotel attracted and accommodated business in the growing community. The Sherman Opera House, which brought in touring dramatic companies, added to the list of popular and prominent men and women who visited the hotel. Ladies would enter on the north, at the carriage entrance, and avoid passing the bar on their way to receptions in the dining room of the three-story hotel.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Boy Scout Troop 1 (Troup 44)]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Boy Scout Troop 1 (Troup 44) in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: The U.S. Congress chartered the Boy Scouts of America organization in 1910. Just two years later, three Van Alstyne boys, Rowland Barnett, Otis White, and Rae Nunnallee, received a Boy Scout storybook. Barnett made a Christmas wish and, in March 1913, the Van Alstyne troop received its charter - one of the first in the state. W.F. Barnett, Rowland's father and Van Alstyne school superintendent, became the troop's first scoutmaster. Within a few years, Troop 1, as it was known then, helped establish other Boy Scout troops in the area, beginning with the communities of Anna and Elmont. The Van Alstyne troop worked from its founding date to serve its community. Through the 1920s, the troop helped in a citywide cleanup to control disease and insect population. In the 1940s, the troop's number changed to 44, and in 1948, the city donated land for a scout hut, which has since been used for meetings. in 1959, the troop took part in the relay of the Pan American Games torch as it traveled from Mexico City to Chicago. The Van Alstyne troop also became the first integrated troop in the Texoma Valley Council. Beginning in 1917, Van Alstyne's First United Methodist Church became an official sponsor of the troop, which has since been sponsored by other local organizations and churches, as well as being continuously supported by the Methodist Church. Scout leaders have included many men and women from the community, including one whose interest was piqued in 1912 by the storybook. Rae Nunnallee was an active troop member for 70 years, joining as a boy and later serving in a number of key roles, both locally and nationally. For his dedication …
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Butterfield Overland Mail Route Through Grayson County]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Butterfield Overland Mail Route Through Grayson County in Sherman, Texas. Text: In the mid-19th century, mail traffic between the eastern United States and the Western states and territories was accomplished via Panama and Cape Horn. in 1857, Congress authorized the postmaster to contract a new overland mail service. The successful bidder for the southern route was John Butterfield, who agreed to convey mail twice weekly in 25 days per run. The "Oxbow Trail" originated at St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee, then merged at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The stagecoaches traveled through Indian Territory (later Oklahoma) and across northern Texas to Tucson, Arizona, and on to Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, traveling 2,795 miles from St. Louis. The trail entered Grayson County by crossing the Red River at Colbert's Ferry and proceeding into Sherman. It crossed the county toward Gainesville in Cooke County en route to Franklin (later El Paso). The citizens of Sherman are credited with especially courting the mail route to use Colbert's Ferry instead of entering Texas near Preston (8 mi. upriver). Sherman became a distribution point in 1858, bringing mail service to Texas settlements. Waterman L. Ormsby of The New York Herald was the first through passenger on the Butterfield Trail in September 1858. He described Sherman as "a pleasant little village of about six hundred inhabitants," and chronicled the remainder of his trip across Grayson County, writing "our course lay across a fine rolling prairie, covered with fine grass,... The beautiful moonlight lit up the vast prairies making its sameness appear like the boundless sea and its hills like the rolling waves." The southern route was terminated in March 1861. The course of the trail is still visible in a number of locations in Grayson County. (1999)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Cannon Cemetery]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for Cannon Cemetery in Van Alstyne, Texas. Text: Elijah Cannon, his eleven sons, and slaves moved from South Carolina to Texas in 1852 and settled nearby. In 1874 the family graveyard was included in land deeded by O.M. Cannon as a community burial place. The oldest documented grave is that of ten-year-old Nancy J. Bowen in 1857. An adjacent section was established for former slaves, and the earliest known burials are those of Billy and Glory Boyd in August 1880. Among the more than 700 graves are those of pioneer settlers, veterans of several wars, and members of fraternal organizations. The cemetery continues to serve the area.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Captain N.A. Birge House]
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.
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: Captain John Henry LeTellier]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for Captain John Henry LeTellier (January 21, 1842 - July 18, 1913) in Sherman, Texas. Text: Born in Virginia, educated at Bethany College. In 1861 he joined Confederate Army, serving in Company K, 24th Virginia infantry fought in battles of Manassas, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Gettysburg, and others. Received several wounds, one serious (at Plymouth). Resumed teaching at end of war. Came to Texas and operated the Sherman private school, 1871-1913. A dynamic teacher and expert in math, he taught many persons who later rose to prominence. Recorded - 1969.
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: Captain LeTellier's School]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for Captain LeTellier's School in Sherman, Texas. Text: This school for boys, founded in 1871, was officially known as the Sherman private school, but informally as "the Cap'n's." It was established and run by former Confederate Army Captain John H. LeTellier (1842-1913), who was born and educated (at Bethany College) in Virginia. Pupils who attended his school, housed in a large frame building, were mainly boys, but a few younger girls were admitted. Tuition in 1871 was $3 a month. The roll contained names of many future leading citizens of this area, and scholastic standards were high. The captain demanded constant drill in English, spelling, and math, stressing oral arithmetic. For each subject completed, a certificate was given. In later years, LeTellier's daughter, Clifford, taught here. The captain, an energetic man who was respected by his boys, joined them in sports at recess, told them stories of his war experiences, sang, and played the guitar. Occasionally he held dances upstairs for which "Old Jim" the handyman played the fiddle. Each Fall, the fathers of the students furnished wagons and all the children rode to the Choctaw Bottoms for their favorite annual pecan hunt. Upon LeTellier's death, the school closed. He and his family buried in West Hill Cemetery. (1969)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Carpenters Bluff Bridge]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: The Carr-Taliaferro House]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for the Carr-Taliaferro House in Sherman, Texas. Text: Prosperous farmer-landowner Richard Bell Carr (1858-1918) and wife Susan (1858-1940) moved into town from Cedar community. They employed highly-regarded contractor in Barrow to design and build this dignified family residence in 1907. Their daughter Susiebel married John Cecie Taliaferro in the front parlor in 1918. Continuing to live here, the Taliaferros later inherited and enlarged the house. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark [1978].
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: Old Cedar Community]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for Old Cedar Community in Sherman, Texas. Text: Settled in 1848 by Grayson County pioneers, who reclaimed land from wilderness. Raiding Indians and hardships of frontier life soon created need for a cemetery, established the same year. The plots were free to any person, many noted settlers are buried here, including one Union and 18 Confederate veterans of the Civil War. Of some 400 graves, half are marked. After community was well established, a school - Cedar Academy - was organized in 1871. D.H. Dumas gave the land for a 3-acre campus. Enrollment reached 79 in 1872. Here, besides the usual subjects, students learned how to make ink and split goose-quills for pens. Later, name was changed to Cedar High School. It merged with the Tom Bean District in 1937. Cedar Methodist Church was organized in 1871. The congregation worshipped in a log house on property deeded by J.G. Vestal and Colonel J.R. Cole. A half mile south of church on Whitemound-Cedar road, a 7-acre tract donated by Mr. and Mrs. B.M. Carr was used as camp ground for revivals. Each summer people would come for miles, pitch their tents there, and attend services under a brush arbor. A frame church built in 1891 was destroyed by a tornado in 1960. The present structure was dedicated October, same year. (1970)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Central Christian Church]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: City of Tom Bean]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: The Civilian Conservation Corps at Loy Park]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for The Civilian Conservation Corps at Loy Park in Denison, Texas. Text: Grayson County officials became aware of a growing need for a public recreation facility for the area's approximately 65,500 residents in 1930. Three years later the federal government agreed to create a small lake on land provided by the county. The county commissioners court purchased a site 2.5 miles southwest of Denison in October 1933 and secured the services of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a federal public works program, to construct the dam and build a recreational park. In early November, 200 men from Wisconsin who comprised CCC Company 857 arrived in Grayson County to begin construction. Many men returned home in April 1934 at the end of the six-month CCC contract. Though it was unusual to employ CCC workers in their own areas, 48 Grayson County men were enlisted to replenish the supply of works in Company 857. By 1934 the CCC men had created a recreation center with a lake, a roadway, 13 culvert bridges, six "battleship" picnic units, a baseball diamond, and a partially completed central tower of native stone. Initially called Grayson County Park, the facility was renamed Judge Jake L. Loy State Park in 1934 in an effort to secure state assistance in completing the park. The commissioners court retrieved custody of the park in 1937 after no state maintenance had occurred. Under the supervision of the county commissioners court, the facility created by the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps program continues to be enjoyed by area citizens.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Coffman Cemetery]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Colbert's Ferry]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Cold Springs Log Cabin School]
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
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Collin McKinney]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Courthouses of Grayson County]
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)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Confederate States of America]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Dannel Funeral Home]
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)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Davis-Ansley Log Cabin Home]
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
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Diamond Horse Ranch]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Dorchester School]
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).
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: Birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for Birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower in Denison, Texas. Text: Thirty-fourth President of the United States; born here Oct. 14, 890, third son of David J. and Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower. Dwight Eisenhower graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, 1915; in 1943, during World War II, was appointed commanding general of the Allied Forces in Europe; served as President of Columbia University, 1948-1952; was President of U.S., 1952-1960; active elder statesman later. (1968).
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Eleventh Texas Cavalry]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Elliot Cemetery]
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
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: The E.M. Kohl Building]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for The E.M. Kohl Building in Denison, Texas. Text: Ernst Martin Kohl (1857-1935), former German Navy Captain who came to Denison in 1885, built the first floor of this structure in 1893 to house a grocery store and saloon. He added the top three floors in 1909-11 as his family's residence. In the 1930s, this building became the Traveler's Hotel, drawing business from the nearby railroad district. Purchased in 1968 by Mr. and Mrs. Bud Tucker, it was sold in 1975 to Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Brandt and restored by their sons, Bill, Bob, and Charles.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Everheart-Canaan Cemetery]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: United States Courthouse]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for a federal building, a United States Courthouse, in Sherman, Texas. Text: After the Sherman Division of the federal district court for the Eastern District of Texas was established in 1902, plans were made to construct this building to serve the court and the postal service. U.S. Treasury Department supervising architect John Knox Taylor designed this Spanish colonial revival - beaux arts style building. Located in the commercial center in close proximity to the rail station, the structure was completed in early 1907 at a cost of $140,000. With its Terra cotta roof tiles, faux balconies with wrought iron grillwork, lamp brackets at both entrances, and two eagles overlooking the main entry, it was an imposing edifice and a significant addition to Sherman's downtown environment. In addition to the federal court, the building has housed local offices of other federal agencies, including the selective service administration, internal revenue service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, general services administration, and the Departments of Agriculture, Labor, and Defense. From 1907 to 1963, the U.S. Postal Service occupied the entire first floor. The original design of the building has remained essentially unchanged except for the first floor, which was remodeled when the post office moved in 1963. Record Texas Historical Landmark - 1997.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Fink]
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)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: First Baptist Church of Bells]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: First Christian Church of Howe]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: First Christian Church]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: First Methodist Church of Whitewright]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: First United Methodist Church]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: First Presbyterian Church and Manse]
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.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: First United Methodist Church of Van Alstyne]
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.
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: The Fitzgerald Home]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for the Fitzgerald Home in Denison, Texas. Text: Build on 800-acre farm near Bells by Geo. S. Fitzgerald. Who moved with family from Virginia to Texas in 1857. He cut building timber on his farm in 1859. On return from Confederate Army he erected this house in 1866. He was prosperous and esteemed, serving as a Grayson County commissioner from 1880 to 1884. House was framed of pegged oak logs. Main rooms are 20 by 20 feet, joined by 12-foot hall. Two stairs lead to upper story. Recorded Texas historic landmark - 1969.
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: Fred Douglass School]
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)
[Texas Historical Commission Marker: 1931 Free Bridge Controversy]
Photograph of the Texas Historical Commission marker for 1931 Free Bridge Controversy in Grayson County, Texas. Text: As a result of late 1920s legislation in Texas and Oklahoma, the two states cooperated on a project to build free highway bridges spanning the Red River to accommodate rapidly increasing highway traffic. One of these bridges was near Colbert Bridge, a toll bridge descended from the mid-19th century Colbert's Ferry. When the free bridge was ready to open in early July 1931, the Red River Bridge Company, operators of Colbert Bridge, obtained a federal restraining order against the opening of the free bridge until contractual payments had been made to compensate the company for their anticipated loss. Texas governor Ross Sterling complied, but Oklahoma governor William Murray, who was not a party to the contract between the Texas Highway Commission and the Red River Bridge Company, asked Governor Sterling to join him in protesting the injunction. Sterling refused. Murray ordered the removal of barricades erected by the Texas Highway Commission. For twelve hours, traffic flowed freely across the bridge. By July 17, Texas Rangers guarded the southern side. Oklahoma highway crews rerouted traffic from Colbert Bridge to Preston Bridge several miles away and dismantled the approach to the Colbert Bridge from Oklahoma. As tensions came close to breaking in the summer heat, the injunction was suspended; the Texas Rangers opened the bridge on July 25. The new bridge was officially opened on Labor Day, 1931. It served until 1995, when it was replaced by a new structure. A portion of the free bridge was placed in a park in Colbert, Oklahoma, about two miles north. (1998)
[State Historical Survey Committee Marker: Friendship Cemetery]
Photograph of the State Historical Survey Committee marker for Friendship Cemetery in Sherman, Texas. Text: Opened in 1830's with burials of local "Yankee Town" settlers. Closed 1859 by a private owner. Reopened by Madison Walsh and Nolan Stewart, 1861. Enlarged and improved 1892, when adjacent Methodist Church was built. The cemetery has been used in three eras: Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and the Union. (1967)
Back to Top of Screen