RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Achille. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.
Use two fingers to move or zoom the map.
No artists from Achille in the database yet.
Know one? Add it →Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Achille.
Calera, Oklahoma, in the rolling landscape of Bryan County, offers a quiet contrast to the bustle of city life. The town reflects a history marked by both resilience and community spirit. After a devastating fire in 1918, Calera rebuilt itself, brick by brick, maintaining its identity. Even the mysterious cave system beneath the town hints at untold stories.
In the rolling landscape of Bryan County, where the East Central Texas Plains meet the Lowland South, lies Calera, Oklahoma. Limestone, quarried from the earth, once fueled the town's early growth. While no grand invention originated here, Calera’s story is woven into the broader tapestry of Oklahoma. A devastating fire in 1918 swept through the town, demanding resilience and rebuilding. Today, Calera maintains a close-knit spirit, an escape from the hurried pace of larger cities. Though largely unseen, a network of caves winds beneath the town, a reminder of hidden depths. Nearby, the roar of Friday night lights echoes from Durant High School, a symbol of local pride, particularly after their 1992 state football championship victory.
Bryan County, Oklahoma, lies within the East Central Texas Plains, a landscape of rolling grasslands and scattered woodlands that mark the transition from the Great Plains to the South. Lake Texoma, a sprawling reservoir, dominates the southern border, a recreational haven drawing visitors to its shores. While the quiet beauty of this region might seem far removed from the spotlight, Bryan County claims an unlikely connection to Hollywood.
(1837-1915) Livestock broker from Illinois, whose pioneering in cattle markets helped Texas rebuild the economy which had been wrecked in 1861-1865 by Civil War. Cattle had increased greatly in wartime. Texas had no market; long drives were necessary, so that until Texas could get better railroads her $5 longhorns could be sold in the north at $25 to $30 or more. McCoy founded first adequate market for Texans, by securing cattle cars and building loading pens at the railroad in Abilene, Kans. This was near upper end of trail started by Indian scout and trader Jesse Chisholm, and used by Texans on drives through Oklahoma to Kansas. He had part of Chisholm Trail surveyed and marked to aid the cattlemen. This was the best known of several cattle trails from Texas over which some 10,000,000 beeves were driven from the state during the years 1866-1884. The M. K. T. Railroad reached Denison in Dec., 1872, giving Texas its own north-bound cattle shipping outlet. McCoy moved here 1873 and helped establish on this site the Atlantic & Texas Refrigerating Co., to benefit ranchers by shipping dressed beef. The state of Texas owes much to the initiative, vision, courage and leadership of Joseph G. McCoy.
On December 24, 1872, a Missouri, Kansas & Texas (Katy) Railroad train carrying 100 passengers arrived here in the newly established railroad town of Denison. Its arrival marked the culmination of years of effort by the Katy to construct a rail line from the border of Kansas and the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) south to the Red River and into Texas. The Katy earned this lucrative right-of-way by being first in a national competition to construct a rail line from St. Louis south to the Indian Territory. Several months later the unheralded connection of the nation's first north-to-south rail service west of the Mississippi River was established here when a Texas Central Railroad train pulled into Denison from the south on March 10, 1873. In a brief ceremony to commemorate the occasion Denison Mayor L. S. Owings addressed a small crowd by reading the contents of a telegram he had dispatched to Galveston, Houston, New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, and San Francisco proclaiming his town's new role as a key link in the nation's network of rail lines. With this connection passengers and shippers could depend on continuous rail passage from the Texas Gulf Coast, where the Texas Central originated, through Denison to St. Louis where rail linkages extended north to Chicago, east to New York, and West to San Francisco.
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. 										(2002)
Dwight David Eisenhower, general of the army and thirty-fourth president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas, on October 14, 1890, to David J. and Ida (Stover) Eisenhower. His father, who had moved from Pennsylvania during the late nineteenth century, was employed on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad at the time. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Abilene, Kansas, from where Eisenhower was appointed to the United States Military Academy, West Point, in July 1911. At West Point he was popular and gregarious, but no dedicated student. A promising football career ended with a broken knee in a game against Jim Thorpe's Carlisle Indians, after which the cadet coached the freshman team. His future leadership abilities were predicted by one superior who described him as "born to command." Another, however, advised that his first assignment, on graduation in 1915, should be under "a strict disciplinarian." Eisenhower graduated on June 12, 1915, at the top of the middle third of his class, which numbered 163. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and assigned to the Nineteenth Infantry at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, on September 13, 1915. He received promotion to first lieutenant on July 1, 1916, the day he married Mamie Geneva Doud. They had two sons. Eisenhower's military career had an auspicious beginning when, during World War I , he commanded a heavy tank brigade at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1926 he graduated number one in his class at the highly competitive Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth. During the 1930s Eisenhower, as a major and lieutenant colonel, was assigned largely to staff positions. His years in the War Department (1929–35) and as chief of staff to Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines (1935–39) gave him an insight into governmental affairs, both military and civilian, that was denied most of his contemporaries. On December 14, 1941, Eisenhower, then at Fort Sam Houston, was transferred to the War Plans Division, United States Army Staff, under Gen. George C. Marshall. From that time to 1961 he held one responsible position after another. As supreme commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, he gave the order that sent British and American troops into Normandy on June 6, 1944 (D-Day). Eleven months later (V-E Day) he accepted the surrender of Nazi representatives Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl. In 1948 Eisenhower retired as army chief of staff to become president of Columbia University in New York. Though his tenure was short-and interrupted continuously by service in Washington-he was able, while there, to organize the American Assembly for the Study of War and Peace through a gift from W. Averell Harriman. In 1951 he was recalled to military duty to serve as supreme commander, Allied Powers in Europe, under NATO. Though his name had often been mentioned in connection with the presidency, Eisenhower always demurred, insisting on an honest "draft" for that office. When he relented in 1952, however, he found himself bitterly opposed for the Republican nomination by Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio. His nomination was achieved only by the seating of a pro-Eisenhower Republican delegation from Texas. By contrast, his election over Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson was remarkably free of acrimony. As president, Eisenhower followed a moderate course, continuing most of the social reforms of Roosevelt's New Deal but insisting on fiscal responsibility in the federal government. His concern over the growing size of the Pentagon budget was reflected in his much-remembered farewell address, in which he warned of the "unwarranted influence of the military-industrial complex." His domestic achievements as president included, besides balancing the federal budget three times, the construction of the Interstate Highway System, passage of the first civil-rights law since the Civil War , and the dispatch of the 101st Airborne Division to enfo
Denison is on U.S. highways 75 and 69 seven miles north of Sherman in northeastern Grayson County. In the early 1870s William Benjamin Munson, Sr. , and R. S. Stevens bought land in the area and prepared for the arrival of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad (the Katy). The townsite was laid out in the summer of 1872 and named for the vice president of the Katy, George Denison. The first train arrived on Christmas Eve. The town had over 3,000 residents by the summer of 1873, when it incorporated. Although Main Street appeared to be an orderly collection of businesses, the surrounding area consisted of a tent city, inhabited by bars, gambling halls, and houses of prostitution. On February 6, 1873, Denison established the first free public school in Texas. The first Denison Independent Order of Odd Fellows was organized on February 19, 1873. Denison had the first women's club in Texas; the XXI club began in 1876. In 1886 a post office opened, and in 1889 the town had 5,000 residents. During the next ten years Denison established itself as a retail and shipping point for North Texas. In addition to the tracks of the MKT, the town also became a stop on the St. Louis, San Francisco and Texas and the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf railroads. Five additional rail lines that connected Denison with other communities in North Texas were chartered between the late 1870s and 1900, including the first interurban electric line between Denison and Sherman in 1896. By the end of the 1870s local businesses included two cotton compresses, a large flour mill, and a slaughterhouse capable of handling 700 cattle a day. In 1884 the town had an opera house that seated 1,200. In 1889 the Denison Herald began publication. During the twentieth century industrial and manufacturing plants provided a diversified economic base for the community. Electronic parts, clothes, furniture, and a variety of plastic goods are among the products manufactured in Denison. In 1900 the population surpassed 10,000. By the mid-1920s Denison had just over 17,000 residents and 400 businesses, including four banks. It also had two high schools, nine grade schools, and numerous churches. In 1936 Denison had 13,850 residents and 460 businesses. By the end of World War II the number of residents was just short of 16,000. The population was 26,000 in 1966, when businesses numbered just under 600. In 1989 Denison had a reported 24,234 residents and 427 businesses. In 1990 the population was 21,505, and in 2000 it was 22,773. Denison was the birthplace of the thirty-fourth president of the United States, Dwight David Eisenhower . The home he was born in in 1890 has been returned to its original appearance and sits in the Eisenhower Birthplace State Historic Site , a three-acre area that includes a museum.
Allen R. Griggs, Baptist minister, was born a slave, the son of Elbert and Brailla Griggs of Hancock County, Georgia, about 1850. He was brought to Texas at age nine. Griggs joined the Baptist Church in 1869 and was ordained as a missionary five years later. In 1870 he married, and he and his wife had eight children. Their son, Sutton Elbert Griggs , became a noted minister and novelist. In the early 1870s Griggs received his first pastorate at the New Hope Baptist Church in Dallas, a position he held for nearly ten years. He later served as pastor at Mount Gilead Baptist Church in Fort Worth and First Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Aside from his church duties, Griggs devoted himself to the education of black Texans. He helped raise funds to establish Bishop College and served that institution as a trustee. He was cofounder of North Texas Baptist College in Denison and several other institutions. He has also been credited with establishing the first black high school in Texas and Texas's first black newspaper. In 1891 Griggs was awarded an honorary doctor of divinity degree by the State University of Kentucky. In 1873 he was made a member of the World's Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago, and in 1905 he was selected as a delegate from Texas to the Pan-Baptists Congress meeting in London, England. Further religious activities include years spent as corresponding secretary of the National Baptist Educational Board and chief organizer and president of the Texas Baptist State Sunday-School Convention, and chief organizer of the Texas Baptist Foreign Mission Convention and the Texas Negro Biographical and Historical Society. For twenty years he served as moderator of the Northwestern Baptist Association and was moderator of the State Missionary and Superintendent of Missions for Texas for twenty-eight years. Griggs also served as editor for several newspapers including, the Baptist Journal , Baptist Preacher , Centennial Dollar Reporter , Dallas Christian Leaflet , National Baptist Bulletin , and the Western Star , which he served as an associate editor. At the time of his death he was dean of North Texas Baptist College. Griggs died on May 7, 1922, in Denison. He was buried in Dallas.
290 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.
Right here near Achille, Oklahoma, is where America's favorite cowboy got his start. Gene Autry was born in Texas, but his family soon moved to Oklahoma, homesteading near Ravia. As a teen, he worked for the railroad,…
You're driving through Bryan County, and right here is Achille. This town owes its existence to the railroad, specifically the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf line that was built through here between 1908 and 1910. The post…
Right here, near Achille, Oklahoma, once stood a beacon of education for young Chickasaw women. Bloomfield Academy, established in 1852, was a boarding school funded by both the Methodist Church and the Chickasaw Nation…
You're driving through Bryan County, and right here is Hendrix. This town owes its very existence to a railroad dispute! Back in 1910, the Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway was bypassing the nearby town of Kemp. So,…
You're driving through Bryan County, near Hendrix. This spot, originally called Warner Springs, was settled in the 1880s because of its water. It was a thriving Chickasaw community, even getting a post office in 1890…
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…
You're driving past Oak Ridge Cemetery, established in 1882. Emma Messenger donated land for this community burial ground after her mother-in-law died. It grew with land additions in 1939 and 1992, and today holds over…
You're driving through Bryan County, and right here is Colbert. This place was named for Benjamin Franklin Colbert, a descendant of Scottish settlers who'd married into the Chickasaw Nation. In 1853, he got permission…
You're driving through Bryan County, not far from the Red River, and you're passing through a place that was once a vital lifeline. In 1853, Benjamin Franklin Colbert, a Chickasaw citizen, was granted permission to…
You're cruising down U.S. Highway 69/75, and right here, you're passing through Calera. This town started in 1872 as Cale, Indian Territory, when the Katy railroad pushed through. It was named for a railroad official,…
Calera, Oklahoma, in the rolling landscape of Bryan County, offers a quiet contrast to the bustle of city life. The town reflects a history marked by both resilience and community spirit. After a devastating fire in…
Imagine standing on the banks of the Red River, where a vital crossing once buzzed with activity. This was Colbert's Ferry, a crucial link between Texas and Indian Territory for decades. From around 1853 to 1899, this…
The wide, rolling plains of Bryan County stretch out, a mix of fertile farmland and scattered woodlands typical of the East Central Texas Plains. Recent years have brought both challenges and opportunities to this…
You're driving past the site of a major bridge dispute back in 1931. Texas and Oklahoma wanted free highway bridges over the Red River, but the company running the old toll bridge, Colbert Bridge, got a court order to…
You're driving past the site of Colbert's Ferry, established around 1853 by Benjamin F. Colbert. This crossing was a vital gateway for thousands of immigrants heading into Texas during the 1850s. It even served the…
Platter, Oklahoma sits within the rolling East Central Texas Plains, where the land begins its slow descent toward the Gulf Coast. This part of Bryan County is defined by its fertile soils, a legacy of ancient seas and…
(1837-1915) Livestock broker from Illinois, whose pioneering in cattle markets helped Texas rebuild the economy which had been wrecked in 1861-1865 by Civil War. Cattle had increased greatly in wartime. Texas had no…
You're driving through Denison, and you're passing the site of a remarkable arrival in Texas. In 1849, Dr. L. A. Washington Jr. rode into the state. Now, this wasn't just any doctor – he was the grandnephew of George…
Cartwright, Oklahoma sits nestled in the rolling landscape of Bryan County, where the East Central Texas Plains begin their slow transition into the Lowland South. The town's heritage is rooted in the dreams of families…
You're driving through Denison, and right here is the E.M. Kohl Building. This place started as a grocery and saloon back in 1893, built by Ernst Martin Kohl, a former German Navy captain who settled in Texas. He later…
You're driving past the Mulberry Cemetery, a place that's seen more than its share of hardship. Established in the early 1880s, it holds the remains of Civil War Captain Thomas Lightfoot and the community's first…
On December 24, 1872, a Missouri, Kansas & Texas (Katy) Railroad train carrying 100 passengers arrived here in the newly established railroad town of Denison. Its arrival marked the culmination of years of effort by the…
Ray, Texas, emerged from the fertile Blackland Prairie of Grayson County, a landscape of rich, dark soils and gently rolling hills. Farming families, drawn by the promise of productive land for cotton and corn, were…
You're driving past Denison, the birthplace of the "Katy" railroad! Back in 1865, this line was planned to connect Kansas City all the way to the Gulf. By 1870, it was renamed the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, or M-K-T –…
Denison (Denison, TX) placed on the 5A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Masen Patton (4 HR).
You're driving past what used to be the heart of Denison's early commercial district. In 1872, this area saw the founding of Waples-Platter Grocery Company, initially supplying railroad workers. By 1885, they built a…
You're driving through Denison, where in 1876, the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur founded St. Francis Xavier Academy. It was the first of six Texas schools organized by the Sisters, educating girls in the arts, sciences,…
You're driving through Denison, and just ahead is the Old Thompson Home, the oldest house still standing in Grayson County. Built in 1830 near Preston Bend, it was also home to the county's very first post office.…
You're driving past St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Denison. Founded in 1872 by the Bishop of Galveston, this parish saw its first church building completed in 1898. Designed by the noted architect Nicholas J. Clayton,…
You're driving through Denison, and you're passing the site of a truly pioneering Texas institution: the XXI Club. Founded way back in 1890 by ten influential women, this was no ordinary social club. Look to your right…
You're driving through Denison, the site of the First Presbyterian Church, organized way back in 1872. The congregation started in a living room, then moved to the town hall, finally getting their own building in 1874.…
You're driving past the birthplace of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States. Born right here in Denison on October 14th, 1890, Ike went on to lead the Allied forces in Europe during World War II,…
Pull over here for a moment – this unassuming house is where a future President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was born! On October 14th, 1890, Dwight David Eisenhower was born in this very house in…
You're driving past Denison's oldest house of worship, St. Luke Church. It's also the oldest Episcopal sanctuary in Grayson County. The site was given by the Denison Town Company, and the first bishop of Texas visited…
Bryan County, Oklahoma, lies within the East Central Texas Plains, a landscape of rolling grasslands and scattered woodlands that mark the transition from the Great Plains to the South. Lake Texoma, a sprawling…
Denison arose from the fertile Blackland Prairies of North Texas, its fate tied to the arrival of the Katy Railroad in 1873. Named for a railroad executive, the town quickly became a transportation hub, drawing farmers…
You're driving through Denison, and right here is Forest Park, a place that's seen more than just picnics. In 1922, this park became the site of Camp Ellis, a tent city housing the Texas National Guard during a major…
You're driving past Lone Star Masonic Lodge No. 403, A. F. & A. M.. Organized a year after Denison was founded, Lone Star Masonic Lodge was chartered June 6, 1874. Meetings were held in several locations before the…
On October 14, 1890, Dwight David Eisenhower was born in this small two-story frame house near the railroad tracks in Denison, Texas. His father, David, worked at a cotton gin across the street. The family was poor.…
You're driving through Fannin County, passing the site of the old Smith Plantation. Back in 1851, Gideon Smith arrived from Alabama and bought a massive 3000-acre spread. He soon brought his brother John to join him.…
The lake that defines Pottsboro exists because engineers stacked a small mountain of dirt across the Red River. Denison Dam, authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938, was begun in 1939 and completed in 1944. It is…
You're driving along the edge of Lake Texoma, a massive body of water that reshaped the Texas landscape. Completed in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1944</say-as>, this lake is the second largest in Texas and…
You're driving past W. B. and Ella Munson Home. William Benjamin Munson (1846-1930) was born in Fulton County, Illinois. He was the first graduate of Kentucky’s Agricultural and Mechanical College (later,…
You're driving past the site of Waples Memorial United Methodist Church in Denison. Organized in 1873, it was the first Methodist congregation in town. The church was later named for E.B. and Mrs. Waples, who helped…
You're driving through Denison, and just off the road here is the site of the J.K. Miller home. Miller and his wife came to Texas in 1852, settling this area around 1860. About 1866, he and his sons built this log…
You're driving through Denison, and right here is the site of Miller's Spring. In <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1866</say-as>, J. K. Miller bought this land, and this spring became the lifeblood for his…
Durant, Oklahoma, situated in the rolling terrain of Bryan County within the East Central Texas Plains ecoregion, owes its origins to the Choctaw Nation. Established in 1872 and named for Dixon Durant, a respected…
You're driving through Durant, Oklahoma, a town that was once led by a visionary educator named Henry Garland Bennett. He arrived in 1908, teaching in Boswell before becoming superintendent of schools in Hugo. By 1919,…
You're driving through Durant, home of Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1935</say-as>, Kate Galt Zaneis took the helm as president, becoming the first woman…
Imagine weary travelers in stagecoaches, kicking up dust right here! This was Fisher's Station, a vital stop on both the Butterfield Overland Mail route and the older Texas Road. Think of it as a 19th-century rest stop,…
You're driving through Durant, a town that started with a boxcar. In November 1872, a wheelless boxcar was placed on the railroad tracks right here. Dixon Durant then built the first store next to it, naming it Durant…
For a town its size, Denison has an outsized claim to fame. Its most famous son is Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President and Supreme Allied Commander in World War II. Ike was born here in 1890 in a small house by the…
Just a few blocks from downtown Denison, you can find a small, simple, two-story white house. It may not look like much, but it's the birthplace of a giant of the 20th century: Dwight D. Eisenhower. On October 14, 1890,…
Here in Denison, a local horticulturist named Thomas Volney Munson performed a miracle for the world of wine. In the late eighteen hundreds, an aphid called phylloxera was devastating the vineyards of France,…
In July 1931, Texas and Oklahoma nearly went to war over a bridge. The states had jointly built a free bridge across the Red River near Denison, Texas, to replace a privately owned toll bridge. The toll bridge company…
Imagine the governors of Texas and Oklahoma facing off with armed troops over a bridge. It really happened, right here at the Red River in 1931. A new, free bridge was built connecting Denison to Durant, Oklahoma,…
Just northwest of Denison stands one of the great engineering feats of the 20th century: the Denison Dam. For decades, the Red River was a menace, prone to catastrophic floods that wiped out farms and bridges. To…
On January 15, 2009, the world watched as Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger masterfully landed a crippled airliner on the Hudson River, saving all 155 people on board. That hero's story began right here in Denison.…
You're driving past the Denison home of Thomas V. Munson, a world-famed scientist who literally saved France's wine industry. Born in Illinois and educated in Kentucky, Munson settled in Denison in 1876. He developed…
You're driving through Bryan County, Oklahoma, near the town of Cade. Right here is where Wilson Nathaniel Jones built his empire. Born around 1827, Jones moved to Indian Territory with his family in 1833. After the…
Right here in Bryan County, you're driving through land that was once home to powerful Native American nations. Choctaw and Chickasaw people lived and farmed here for decades after their removal from the South. In fact,…
Right here, near the Oklahoma-Texas border, you're driving past the site of Camp Washita. Established in 1834 by the Third Infantry, it was a forward base for the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition. Famous artist George…
You're driving through what used to be Indian Territory, near Fort Washita. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1879</say-as>, died Douglas Hancock Cooper. He was a Confederate general, yes, but he was…
You're driving through Bryan County, and right here, you're passing the site of Fort Washita. Established in 1842, this place was built to protect the Chickasaw Nation from hostile tribes and shady characters, and it…
You're driving past the Mayes House in Denison, a home designed by architect Donald Mayes himself. He lived here with his wife, Rose Marie, from the time they married in 1940 until his death in 1966. Mayes left his mark…
Durant, Oklahoma, owes its existence to the Katy Railroad, which transformed it into a crucial link in the transportation network of the late 19th century. Named for Dixon Durant, a prominent figure in the Choctaw…
You're driving through Denison, and if you look closely, you might spot Coffman Cemetery. While David Coffman fought in the Civil War, his family settled here. After the war, David joined them, and they bought this…
Dwight David Eisenhower, general of the army and thirty-fourth president of the United States, was born in Denison, Texas, on October 14, 1890, to David J. and Ida (Stover) Eisenhower. His father, who had moved from…
Denison is on U.S. highways 75 and 69 seven miles north of Sherman in northeastern Grayson County. In the early 1870s William Benjamin Munson, Sr. , and R. S. Stevens bought land in the area and prepared for the arrival…
Allen R. Griggs, Baptist minister, was born a slave, the son of Elbert and Brailla Griggs of Hancock County, Georgia, about 1850. He was brought to Texas at age nine. Griggs joined the Baptist Church in 1869 and was…
You're driving through North Texas, and right here is Denison, a town born from a bold gamble. William Benjamin Munson arrived in Texas in 1871, a surveyor and lawyer looking for opportunity. When Sherman residents…
You're driving near Denison, Texas, where in July of 1931, a brand new, free bridge over the Red River sparked a bizarre interstate standoff. A private company, operating an old toll bridge, sued to stop the opening,…
You're driving through Denison, Texas, a town that owes much of its development to a Civil War hero. Alexander Acheson, then a Union Army captain, was the first officer to lead his men over captured Confederate…
You're driving through Denison, Texas, where Sarah Acheson made her mark as a pioneering suffragist and temperance reformer. <break time="400ms"/> Born in Pennsylvania in 1844, she moved to Denison in 1872. <break…
You're driving through Grayson County, not far from Denison, the birthplace of a national hero. Back in 1947, the Texas legislature voted to honor World War II hero Dwight D. Eisenhower with a state park. It took a few…
You're driving through Denison, Texas, the birthplace of Booker T. Ervin, Jr., a jazz tenor saxophonist whose sound would echo across the globe. Born in 1930, Ervin's musical journey began with his father's trombone and…
You're driving near Lake Texoma, a massive playground on the Red River, straddling the Texas-Oklahoma border. Right here, Denison Dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a colossal earth embankment stretching…
You're driving through Denison right now, and you're passing through a place that helped launch the career of one of America's most fiery orators. Mary Elizabeth Lease arrived here in 1874 with her family, after losing…
You're driving through North Texas, and right here, you're passing through a piece of the legendary buffalo hide trade. John Wesley Mooar, a businessman from New York, realized big profits could be made selling buffalo…
You're driving through Grayson County, right near Denison. Back in the early 1900s, this area was known for widespread lawlessness, bootlegging, and general trouble. In 1912, the community pleaded with Marshall Lee…
You're driving through Texas, perhaps near Denison or Waco, and you're passing through the legacy of William Cameron. Born in Scotland in 1834, Cameron came to the US and eventually found his fortune in Texas lumber. In…
You're driving through Denison, Texas, a town that owes much of its early development to the efforts of Choice Boswell Randell. Arriving here in 1879, Randell quickly became a prominent figure. He served as Denison's…
You're driving through North Texas, and right here in Denison, Viola Beck was born in 1894. She became a renowned pianist, composer, and educator. Viola studied piano with none other than Percy Grainger and even made…
You're driving through Grayson County, heading towards Denison, a town that owes its existence in part to Jesse Mercer Cook. Born in Georgia in 1830, Cook came to Texas after serving in the Mexican War. He settled in…
You're driving through the Texas Panhandle, a land that, not too long ago, was defined by the thunder of hooves and the roar of a rifle. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1874</say-as>, John R. Cook arrived…
You're driving through North Texas, and right here, the story of the Denison, Bonham and New Orleans Railroad, nicknamed 'Nellie,' unfolds. <break time="400ms"/> Chartered way back in 1887, this ambitious project aimed…
You're driving through Denison, Texas, home to Grayson County College. It all started in 1963 when the Grayson County Development Council organized this junior college. By 1965, classes were underway with nearly 1,500…
You're driving near Denison, Texas, a town that became a crucial connection point for a brand new railway back in 1910. The Missouri, Oklahoma and Gulf Railway Company of Texas was chartered right here to build nine…
Just up the shoreline from Pottsboro sits a state park with a hometown story. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the World War II Allied commander and 34th U.S. president, was born in nearby Denison in 1890. When the brand-new Lake…
You're driving past what was once known as Sand Springs, a vital watering hole on the old pioneer trails. As early as 1840, travelers and prospectors knew this spot, where water bubbled up at the foot of a rocky bluff.…
You're driving through Fannin County, near Savoy, where a family cemetery holds the stories of early Texas pioneers. This resting place began in 1845 with the burial of William W. Bell, an English immigrant who arrived…
You're driving past the site of the Virginia Point Methodist Church, the oldest church in Fannin County. It was organized in 1837 at Old Warren, and this building was erected in 1860.
You're driving past the site of the Bass Home, the oldest house still standing in Denison. It was built in the 1850s by Dr. R. L. Bullock, and when it was constructed, it boasted the very first window glass in all of…
You're driving through Denison, and right here is a testament to the New Deal era. Back in 1933, Grayson County needed a place to play, and the federal government said, 'We'll help.' They brought in the Civilian…
You're driving through Denison, and just off the road, you might see a piece of Texas history: the Davis-Ansley Log Cabin. About 1840, blacksmith Micajah Davis, a founder of Grayson County, built this home from…
You're driving past the Fitzgerald Home, a testament to post-Civil War resilience. George S. Fitzgerald and his family packed up from Virginia and headed for Texas way back in 1857. He scouted timber on his land in…
You're driving through Grayson County, and just off the road, you might have seen it – a log home built by Jesse Elvis Hendricks. He arrived in this area way back in 1846, a native of Missouri. Hendricks built this very…
You're driving past Mead, Oklahoma, a town with roots stretching back to 1866. It started as a camp meeting ground for a band of Creeks, near two large springs. Presbyterian missionaries held services here, preaching in…
You're driving past the site of the Cold Springs Log Cabin School. Built around 1855 by pioneers waiting for land grants, this one-room schoolhouse was led by William L. Holder. His son later lived here before the cabin…
You're driving through Fannin County, not far from Bonham, heading towards the Red River. Right here is Ravenna, a town that started out as Willow Point around 1850. By the 1880s, settlers had named it Ravenna,…
Preston is nestled on the Red River in the Red River Valley, on a river bend just downstream from the river's confluence with the Washita River. The area, also known as Washita Bend or Coffee Bend, is characterized by a…
You're driving through Grayson County, where Texas's first electric railway, the Interurban, once connected Sherman and Denison. Founded in 1900, the Denison and Sherman Railway began service in 1901, a 10.5-mile line…
You're driving past the area where Sophia Porter lived, a woman who played a crucial role during the Civil War. Back in 1839, she settled with her husband Holland Coffee at a place called Glen Eden, north of here, now…
You're driving past the site of Coffee's Trading Post, established around 1837. This was a crucial hub for trade with Native American tribes across the Red River region and the western plains. More than just a place for…
Striped bass are ocean fish that swim up rivers to spawn, so they rarely breed in landlocked lakes. Lake Texoma is a famous exception. Stocked here in 1965, the stripers found two long, free-flowing feeder rivers, the…
You're driving through Elwood, Fannin County, near where history was made back in April of <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1836</say-as>. This was the site of the first Fannin County settlement, established by…
You're driving through Bryan County, and right here is Silo. It started as a stop on a stagecoach route back in the 1800s, with a post office opening in 1893. It even had a hotel, but when that caught fire, the…
This part of U.S. Highway Eighty Two carries the name of Deputy Chad Key of the Grayson County Sheriff's Office. Chad Key spent three and a half years as a corrections officer with the sheriff's office before he became…
You're driving past the Hendrix Cemetery, a final resting place established by John Hendrix. He arrived in Texas in 1846 with his family, seven other families, and a plan to farm and run a nursery. Their first camp in…
Everything about Bells comes back to one specific spot: the place where two major railroads crossed. In the early 1870s the Texas and Pacific came through heading east and west, and the Missouri-Kansas-Texas—the…
The existence of Bells is a testament to 19th-century transportation engineering. The key wasn't just laying track; it was creating a functional intersection between two competing railway companies, the Texas & Pacific…
The city's name, Bells, is steeped in local tradition. It is said to have been chosen in the early 1870s when the railroad was extended to this point. The ringing of church bells to celebrate the arrival of the railroad…
You're driving through Bryan County, just north of Durant, and you're passing through Armstrong. This small town owes its existence to the railroad, specifically the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway, which laid tracks…
Bells is on U.S. Highway 82 ten miles east of Sherman in east central Grayson County. Daniel Dugan settled in the area in 1835. Community development, however, did not occur until the early 1870s with the arrival of the…
Bells, Texas, has a history deeply intertwined with the railroad. The city's origins trace back to the early 1870s when the railroad was extended to this point. This pivotal moment marked the beginning of Bells' growth…
You're driving past the site of Antioch Baptist Church, formally organized in 1861. The congregation first worshiped south of here, later moving to share this Pink Hill community site with a school. The church became…
You're driving past the site of the First Baptist Church of Bells. Organized in 1879 as Bell Plain Baptist Church, the congregation first met in a schoolhouse before building their own sanctuary in 1884. The current…
You're driving through Sherman, and just off to the side, you're passing the site of a dark chapter in this town's history. Back in May of 1930, mob violence erupted here, burning down the old courthouse and destroying…
You're driving through what used to be Preston, Texas, a place with a wild past, thanks to Sophia Suttenfield. After arriving in Texas and surviving the Runaway Scrape, Sophia claimed she nursed Sam Houston himself at…
You're driving through Grayson County, near where Preston Bend used to be. Right here, Holland Coffee started what became Glen Eden Plantation in 1837, building a trading post and eventually a grand mansion. His unique…
You're driving through Wharton County, and right here, you're passing through the land where John Huff settled over 200 years ago. Born in Pennsylvania around 1801, Huff was one of Stephen F. Austin's original…
You're driving near Lake Texoma, but imagine this: right here, over 180 years ago, was the rough-and-tumble frontier town of Preston. Established around 1837 near the Red River, it quickly became a vital crossing point…
Holland Coffee, Red River trader, the son of Ambrose and Mildred (Moore) Coffee, was born on August 15, 1807, probably in Kentucky. He was orphaned at age eleven and grew up in McMinnville, Tennessee, with an uncle,…
You're driving through Grayson County, Texas, near the town of Preston. Right here, in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1862</say-as>, William M. Bush enlisted to fight for the Confederacy. He was elected…
You're driving through Grayson County, near the Oklahoma border, and right here is where the Preston Supply Depot once stood. Back in 1851, the U.S. Army was trying to figure out the best way to get supplies to forts…
You're driving through Wharton County, not far from the site of Preston. Back in 1838, developers advertised lots for this brand-new town, promising brick factories and twenty houses. They even planned for a public sale…
You're driving through Savoy, and the town has been right here the whole time. It was founded around 1863 by Col. William Savoy, a settler who had come out in the late 1850s, and it grew slowly until the end of the…
If you look at Savoy today, you're looking at a town that got knocked flat and got back up. On May 28, 1880, a tornado came through here and killed eleven people, virtually destroying the community. Think about what…
In its heyday, Savoy wasn't just a cotton town; it was a college town. In 1876 locals founded the Savoy Male and Female College, one of the first coeducational colleges in North Texas, put together by R. R. Halsell,…
You're driving through Pottsboro, a town that owes its very existence to the railroad. Before the late 1870s, this was Caddo and Wichita Indian land, then home to early Anglo settlers like James G. Thompson. His…
You're driving through Fannin County, near Savoy. This town was established about 1863 by Col. William Savoy. It grew slowly until after the Civil War, becoming an agricultural shipping center. But in 1880, a…
You're driving through Fannin County, near the town of Savoy. Back in 1876, this was the site of the Savoy Male and Female College, one of North Texas's first coeducational schools. It aimed to provide education for…
Late on the night of April 9, 1919, disaster struck Ravenna out of the dark. A violent tornado, part of a larger outbreak across North Texas, had already run thirty miles up from Blue Ridge, tearing through Collin and…
Just a few miles from Ravenna lies one of the most significant Texas engineering projects of the 21st century: Bois d'Arc Lake. As you drive nearby, consider the immense challenge of building the first major reservoir…
In the 1880s Ravenna was a growing Fannin County town, and in 1891 it got the thing every nineteenth-century town prayed for: the Denison, Bonham and New Orleans Railroad laid its tracks right through here. The boom was…
You're driving past Savoy, a town founded in 1872 by William Savoy. Just a year later, in 1873, this Methodist congregation began meeting. Their first sanctuary, built in 1876, was one of the few buildings that survived…
You're driving past Washburn Cemetery near Bells. A portion of land on the south edge of the Washburn survey was set aside for burials as settlers moved into the area. The oldest marked grave is infant Mary Gentry from…
You're driving past Carson Cemetery, a resting place with a tragic beginning. Local stories say this ground was named for John Carson, who once owned this land. But the earliest graves here might date back to an 1842…
You're driving through Fannin County, near Savoy. Look ahead for the site of Fort Warren, the first settlement and fort in this county, built way back in 1836. Abel Warren, an Indian trader from Arkansas, constructed…
You're driving past Greenwood Cemetery, also known as Jenkins Cemetery. The oldest stones here have lost their lettering, but the earliest dated burial is for Jas. P. Montgomery, who died in 1869. The land was formally…
Just southeast of Ivanhoe, a massive feat of modern engineering has reshaped the Texas map. You're near Bois d'Arc Lake, a 16,641-acre reservoir dedicated in 2022 - the first major reservoir built in the state in nearly…
You can't tell the story of any place in Fannin County without talking about Sam Rayburn. From his home in nearby Bonham, 'Mr. Sam' served as Speaker of the U.S. House longer than anyone in history, and his power in…
For most of a century, the heart of Ivanhoe was its school. It was more than a place for reading and writing; it was the community's social center, the site of holiday programs, town meetings, and celebrations. By the…
You're driving past the site of Fink, a Texas settlement with a name change or two. It started in the 1840s near Fort Johnson, serving the Texas Military Road, also called the Shawnee Trail. It was first known as…
You're driving through Pottsboro, a town that owes its existence to a pioneer settler and a railroad. Back in 1876, James A. Potts donated land and a right-of-way, convincing the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad to…
Sam Rayburn (Ivanhoe, TX) placed on the 2A Texas high school baseball stat leaderboards for the 2026 season: Jamison Dorris (0.521 avg, 3 HR).
Pottsboro owes its existence to one man's deal with a railroad. In 1876 rancher and Confederate veteran James A. Potts donated land for a townsite and, with his wife Sarah, deeded a right-of-way so the…
You're driving past Preston Road/Shawnee Trail. In 1840, authorized by an 1838 act of the Congress of the Republic of Texas, Col. W. G. Cooke and the Texas First Infantry Regiment laid out a military road from Austin…
You're driving past the site of the Old Settlers Association of Grayson County, founded way back in 1879. Imagine old-timers, folks who remembered the Republic of Texas and the frontier, gathering by wagon to reminisce.…
The reason Pottsboro is a lake town today is because of one of the most ambitious civil engineering projects of its time: Denison Dam. For decades, the Red River was a destructive force, prone to catastrophic floods…
Just north of here, beneath the waters of Lake Texoma, lies a ghost town. Before Pottsboro, the most important settlement in this area was Preston — Preston Bend. Settled in the 1830s around Holland Coffee's trading…
Most Texas towns of the 1870s waited to see where the railroad would go, then scrambled to get there. Pottsboro didn't wait. James A. Potts, a pioneer settler, had a piece of Grayson County and an idea. In 1876 he…
You're driving through Pottsboro, and just ahead is the final resting place of George R. Reeves. Born in Tennessee in 1826, Reeves came to Texas around 1845. He served Grayson County as tax collector and sheriff before…
Pottsboro was named after James A. Potts, who established the town in 1876 by donating land for a town and a right-of-way for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. When Judge James G. Thompson, Potts' father-in-law,…
You're driving past Austin College, the oldest college in Texas still operating under its original charter! Founded way back in 1849 by the Presbytery of Brazos, it was named for Stephen F. Austin himself. Imagine, its…
You're driving through Sherman, and just ahead is the Carr-Taliaferro House. Built in 1902 for prosperous farmer Richard Bell Carr and his wife Susan, this dignified residence was designed by contractor J. R. Barrow.…
You're driving past the site of Travis Lodge No. 117, founded way back in 1852. It's one of Sherman's oldest continuing institutions. The lodge survived a major fire in 1875 that wiped out much of the business district,…
You're driving past the site of Little Jordan Cemetery. Sid and Suzan Pierce donated this burial ground near the Little Jordan Baptist Church, which was active from 1850 to 1893. Heirs of the pioneers fenced the area in…
This corner of Grayson County is where the legend of Bass Reeves began, though it began in chains. Born into slavery around 1838 and named, by family tradition, for his grandfather, young Bass was brought to the Sherman…
You're driving through Sherman, and you're passing the site of a true Texas industrial giant. Between 1871 and 1879, John Clement Tassey founded the Sherman Cotton Oil Company right here. It grew so fast, it became the…
That Texas Instruments fab in Sherman is one of the cleanest buildings on Earth, and it has to be. The features printed on a modern chip are far smaller than a single speck of dust, smaller even than a bacterium. So one…
You're driving past the site of Fort Johnson, established by William G. Cooke in 1840. This fort was part of the Military Road defense system connecting Red River to Austin. It was named for Colonel Francis W. Johnson,…
Right here in Sherman, Texas Instruments started making computer chips in December 2025 at its newest semiconductor plant, a facility called SM1. Here's what makes that remarkable: they broke ground on an empty field in…
You're cruising past the former Perrin Air Force Base, a vital training ground that sprang to life right before America entered World War II. Plans started in early 1941, and by December 16th, the first flight students…
That Texas Instruments fab in Sherman prints its chips on 300-millimeter wafers, and that one number is the reason chips keep getting cheaper. A wafer is a thin, round, mirror-polished disc of silicon, and hundreds or…
Before that Texas Instruments fab in Sherman can print a single chip, its silicon has to make an almost unbelievable journey. Silicon, the heart of every chip, starts out as ordinary quartz. Basically sand and rock.…
You're driving through Sherman, and right here is the site of the Fred Douglass School. Named for the famous orator, this was one of Sherman's first public schools, founded way back in 1879. Initially, it served about…
The courthouse square you see today sits on the site of a profound tragedy. In May 1930, a Black farmhand named George Hughes was in the courthouse jail, accused of assaulting his white employer's wife. As the trial…
One of the most remarkable figures of the American West is buried right here in Sherman. Her name was Olive Oatman. In 1851, her family was attacked in Arizona while traveling west. Thirteen-year-old Olive was captured…
As you drive along Highway 75, you're seeing one of the largest high-tech engineering projects on the planet rise from the Texas prairie. Texas Instruments' mega-site here is laid out for as many as four connected…
On the afternoon of May 15, 1896, the sky over Sherman turned a terrifying greenish-black. A tornado of a strength later judged equal to an F5, the top of the scale, touched down near Pilot Point in Denton County and…
In the early 1900s Sherman had some of the most advanced technology in the state running right through it: an electric railway, and it was here first. The Denison and Sherman Railway, finished in 1901, was the very…
A century ago Pottsboro's economy ran on cotton and railroad freight. Today it runs largely on water. After Denison Dam filled Lake Texoma in the 1940s, the shoreline north of town became one of the busiest recreation…
Sherman, Texas, was named in honor of General Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Texas Revolution. Born on July 23, 1805, and passing away on August 1, 1873, General Sherman's legacy is commemorated in the name of this city…
You're driving past the site of Saint John Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, organized in 1875 as Saint John CME Chapel. Initially, services were held in a community of freedmen known as "Brushtown," with the Rev.…
Right here, in what might look like just another field, you're near the former heart of the Choctaw Nation: Chahta Tamaha. This area started growing in the 1840s around the Armstrong Academy, a school for Choctaw boys…
You're driving past the Lyon House in Sherman, a Victorian home with a story that spans two wars and local leadership. German-born architect John Tollouch designed it before 1897. Hardware merchant George Hardwicke…
You're driving through Sherman, and right here stood the old Sherman Opera House, a jewel of Victorian architecture. Built in 1881 by Captain L.F. Ely, who even made the bricks himself, this place was the heart of local…
You're driving through Sherman, and right here is the site of an industry that's been serving North Texas for over a century! Back in 1875, Solon Totten rode his horse all the way from Illinois, looking for a place to…
You're driving through Sherman, and just ahead is the former home of Noble Allan Birge. This Connecticut native arrived in Texas before the Civil War, becoming the first sheriff of Marion County in 1860. After serving…
You're driving past the site of one of North Texas's oldest banks. Before this building, traders in Sherman hung saddlebags full of gold on the branches of a pecan tree – that's why it was called the 'Pecan Tree Bank'!…
You're driving through Sherman, and right here stood the Binkley Hotel, a landmark that was part of a unique business and cultural hub. It wasn't just a place to sleep; it was tied to the Merchants and Planters Bank,…
You're driving past the old Federal Building in Sherman. Designed by U.S. Treasury architect John Knox Taylor, this Spanish Colonial Revival structure was completed in 1907 for $140,000. It housed the federal court and…
You're driving past the third meeting hall for Sherman's Odd Fellows Lodge, established way back in 1854. Before the city even had public schools, this lodge opened one for 74 students! During the Civil War, nearly all…
Say the name Sherman out loud in a lot of the country, and people picture the Union general William Tecumseh Sherman, the one who marched to the sea and burned a path across Georgia in the Civil War. So it would be easy…
The man this town is named for is tied to maybe the most famous battle cry in Texas history. General Sidney Sherman commanded the Second Regiment at the Battle of San Jacinto on April twenty-first, eighteen thirty-six,…
The town you're passing through was where one of the most feared men in American history spent the winter of 1863. William 'Bloody Bill' Anderson rode with Quantrill's Raiders — Confederate guerrillas who terrorized the…
Here is something most Texas towns can't claim. Sherman wasn't named by a founder or a railroad company. It was named by an act of the Texas Legislature. On March seventeenth, eighteen forty-six, when lawmakers carved…
Sidney Sherman, the man this town is named for, didn't drift into the Texas Revolution. He bought his way in with his own money. In the eighteen thirties, Sherman was a businessman up in Newport, Kentucky, manufacturing…
Sidney Sherman's story didn't end on the battlefield. The man this town is named for went on to help lay the very first railroad tracks in Texas. After the revolution, Sherman bought land near Harrisburg, which today is…
The revolution that made Sidney Sherman a hero, and gave this town its name, was won with just two cannons. They were a pair of matched iron guns nicknamed the Twin Sisters. Citizens of Cincinnati, Ohio, paid for them…
The road you're driving on, U.S. Highway 82, tells a powerful story of engineering and economic change. For its first 70 years, Ector's lifeblood was the Texas and Pacific railroad. But by the mid-20th century, a new…
You're driving through Sherman, the birthplace of the Eleventh Texas Cavalry. Organized in May 1861 with nearly 900 men, this frontier unit fought across Indian Territory, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.…
You're driving through Grayson County, a vital Confederate hub during the Civil War. This area raised regiments like the 11th Texas Cavalry, and Sherman became a regional depot for clothing and supplies. Look out for…
You're driving through Grayson County, named for Peter W. Grayson, a lawyer, poet, and key figure in early Texas. He was instrumental in securing Stephen F. Austin's release from prison and helped draft plans for an…
You're driving through Sherman, the site of a truly historic presidential visit. Back on April 5, 1905, Theodore Roosevelt's train stopped right here. A massive crowd of 35,000 people packed the streets, eager to catch…
You're driving past the site where Allison Mayfield began his law career in Sherman back in 1884. He went on to serve 26 years on the Texas Railroad Commission, 16 of those as chairman. Under his leadership, the…
Let's play a quick name game, because Texas has a Sherman and American history has two famous ones. This town, we know for certain, is named for Sidney Sherman, the Texas Revolution general, born in Massachusetts in…
Ector, Texas, began as a settlement in the late 19th century when farmers arrived near Caney Creek. The town was named after Ector Owens, a pioneer settler in the area. Originally called Victor's Station, the name was…
You're driving through Grayson County, a place that's been a major part of Texas history for over a century. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1837</say-as>, this was the site of Colonel Holland Coffee's…
Longer stories, research notes, photos, videos, and where the road goes next. Free, and no iPhone needed.
