"Between the Creeks" Page: 274
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Deeds for the right-of-way were signed in January 1956 for U.S. 75 and work began in
May.
During the '50s, new houses were built on lots between the old homes, and new
additions were platted north and south of the old town. As the town increased in size,
school officials breathed sighs of relief and began making long-range plans. In 1960,
Eros Brown gave land to the Allen Independent School District in memory of his parents,
Morgan and Belle Brown, for a high school site. The site, at Jupiter and Main Street, a
mile from town amid cotton fields, showed vision for future growth.
A run-down of population figures for 1960-1962 shows the rapid growth of the
town that had 400 people in 1950 and about 500 in 1953 at the time of incorporation.
1960: Jan., 626; April, 643; June, 688; Aug. 718; Sept. 733, 1961: Jan., 772; March 801;
June 838; Oct. 887, 1962: Jan., 900.
"A census taken in the past two weeks reveals a total of 991 people in Allen as of
Oct. 1, 1962, almost exactly two and a half times as many as in 1950."
In 1962, Allen had a trade area of a six-mile radius that included 3,000 people on
farms and ranches raising cotton and small grains, dairy and beef cattle. The report noted
that many farm folk worked in industry during off seasons. More than 300 inhabitants of
Allen were employed outside the city.
The town's 22 businesses in 1962 were four groceries, three service stations, a
garage, barber shop, beauty shop, two cafes, a florist, dry goods store, lumber-hardware
store, self-service laundry, grain elevator, television repair shop, one small food factory
(Kracketts), two insurance real estate offices, a rock and gravel service, and a state-
licensed day care and kindergarten. Allen had a third-class post office.
Last week, we drove around town and looked at the new construction and saw
families moving into new homes. Growth has come to Allen just as those few visionaries
foresaw in the early '50s. Newcomers, welcome to Allen; we heard that you were
coming!
Missed turnoff leads a young Dr. Vita to town 8-20-89
The young doctor's mind wandered as he drove over the familiar route between
Wylie and the county hospital in McKinney. During the months Tony Vita had been
associated with Dr. Trimble in Wylie, he had traveled the road so often that driving was
automatic. However, on the return trip that day, the little Chevy's auto pilot failed - he
missed the turnoff at Fairview. As the road curved and dipped under a railway underpass
he realized his mistake. Soon he saw a water tower and a church steeple above a cluster
of trees and roof tops on a distant hill. Was that a town?
The doctor came to a crossroad. Lost, with a low gas gauge, he took the road to
the west toward the unknown town. Was there the faint hum of the theme from "The
Twilight Zone," the popular TV series of 1963, as the car crossed Cottonwood Creek
bridge?
After passing a few store buildings, he pulled into Holt's Mobil station. When
Virgil "Square" Holt came out to the gas pumps, the doctor asked, "Is this a town?"
"It sure is. This is Allen, Texas." A surprised Holt answered.
"I'm Dr. Vita from Wylie. I missed my road. I need gas and some directions
from here to Wylie."274
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[Name Index to Gwen Pettit Articles] (Text)
Spreadsheet index of personal and family names found in the compiled transcriptions of newspaper articles written by Gwen Pettit about the local history of Allen, Texas.
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Pettit, Gwen. "Between the Creeks", book, July 2006; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth752794/m1/279/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .