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Slidell, Texas

Everything Slidell is known for

1 song mention this city 1 artist from here

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Slidell. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

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Music in Slidell

Songs About Slidell

joy
The Band of Heathens
22%

Artists From Slidell

D
Dax Davis
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Slidell

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Slidell.

Interstate 35 45 songs Red River 88 songs Texas State Highway 199 8 songs

Musical Heritage

The Sanger Girl Who Wrote the Long Black Veil RoadyGoat

One of the most-covered songs in American music was written by a woman who grew up right here in Sanger. Marijohn Wilkin, born in 1920, was raised in Sanger by a father who worked as a baker and played fiddle on the side, and that mix of small-town music and church singing followed her to Nashville. There she co-wrote The Long Black Veil, the haunted ballad of a man hanged for a crime he won't explain to save a married woman's honor; Lefty Frizzell cut it in 1959, and it's since been recorded by Johnny Cash, The Band, and dozens more. She also co-wrote Cut Across Shorty for Eddie Cochran and I Just Don't Understand, which the Beatles later covered. In 1973 she wrote One Day at a Time with a young protege named Kris Kristofferson; it became one of the biggest gospel songs of the decade. Wilkin was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1975. Not bad for a baker's daughter from a Denton County railroad town. (Source: Wikipedia; Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.)

RoadyGoat → · 12.6 mi away

History of Slidell

The Annual Homecoming RoadyGoat

The most important day on the Tira calendar isn't a national holiday; it's the first Sunday of every July. That's the day of the Tira Homecoming. On that day, the population of this quiet community swells as cars pull in from across Texas and beyond. These are the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the families who built this place. The program starts late morning in the Tira Methodist Church, where people stand up one at a time and share what they remember about growing up out here. Then everybody moves outside to the picnic tables on the cemetery grounds for a potluck lunch that's legendary, and the Cemetery Association holds its business meeting — because keeping those headstones standing is the year's real work. For many, it's the one time a year they reconnect with this place. The Homecoming is the town's heartbeat, a deliberate act of remembrance. It proves that a community's strength isn't measured by its population, but by the loyalty of its people.

RoadyGoat → · 11.3 mi away

From Cotton Fields to Dairy Capital RoadyGoat

The landscape around Tira is the result of a deliberate, decades-long swap. For a century this was cotton country — by 1930 more than two-thirds of the improved acreage in Hopkins County was in cotton. Then the Depression gutted it. Production fell from forty-two thousand bales in 1925 to under seven thousand by 1940, and farmers here went looking for something that paid every week instead of once a year. They picked dairy cows, and they went at it as a county. Voters passed a road bond back in 1929 for the express purpose of luring a milk processor; Carnation opened its plant in 1937; and between 1936 and 1949 about two hundred Class-A dairies went in. Then came the technology: new pasture grasses like Coastal Bermuda, artificial insemination to rebuild the genetics of the herds, and in the fifties and sixties the refrigerated bulk tank and the pipeline milking system, which replaced back-breaking labor and let a farmer hold milk safely until the tanker came. By 1950 Hopkins County led Texas in milk on a cow-per-acre basis, and it has been the state's leading dairy county ever since. That's why the land around Tira is year-round green pasture instead of seasonal cotton rows.

RoadyGoat → · 11.3 mi away

From School to Soul RoadyGoat

Tira has been two towns under two names. It started as Chapman Arm, for Jimmy Chapman, who settled here in 1850; a Methodist church went up right after the Civil War. When the post office came in 1898 the name changed to Tira, taken from the old biblical city of Tyre. Will Godfrey put in a cotton gin in 1900, a public school opened, and by 1914 there were three general stores, a grocer and two gins serving about a hundred people. Then it came apart in slow motion. The post office closed in 1919. In 1945 the Tira School was folded into several others to make North Hopkins School, and the children rode a bus out of town — usually the beginning of the end for a place like this. By 1952 there were forty people left, and the last store closed in 1961. But Tira didn't finish dying. People moved back out here in the sixties and seventies, the town incorporated in 1975, and today it counts more than three hundred residents. It is one of the few small Texas towns that got bigger going the other way.

RoadyGoat → · 11.3 mi away

Fortenberry, A. H.

1850

In the 1850s, A. H. ("Sevier") Fortenberry and his second wife Jane (Odell) moved from Arkansas to the wilderness then existing in this section of Texas. Living as a farmer and stock raiser, Fortenberry joined neighbors in warding off Indian raids which endangered the settlements. On October 30, 1868, at a site 3/4 of a mile northwest of this marker, he was intercepted and killed by Indians while trying to join a defensive posse. He was buried in the Pollard Cemetery, Denton County. It is thought that he was the last fatality in the Indian Wars in this vicinity. (1977)

Historical Marker →

Chisholm Trail in Denton County

1867

The Chisholm Trail was a significant route for cattle drives in the late 1800s that traveled the entire length of Denton County and played a major role in the agricultural development of the county. Following the Civil War, veterans returned home to an uncertain future. Jobs were scarce and ranch lands were neglected and decayed. The burgeoning cattle industry in Texas and the use of the Chisholm Trail to drive cattle to Kansas to be shipped to eastern markets helped bring financial prosperity to the state and Denton County. From 1867 to 1884, millions of cattle made the long trek to Kansas, many passing through Denton County on their way. Money made by numerous ranchers and businessmen created a ripple effect to the state of Texas economy, and the demand for goods and services returned. Over the years, 30,000 to 40,000 cowboys worked the trail as an industry was created in Texas that still exists today. In Denton County, the trail extended from Elizabethtown in the south to just north of bolivar. The county is home to a number of heritage ranch properties that have remained in the same family for over a century, a testament to the impact of the Chisholm Trail. Although the trail diminished as the railroad spread throughout the country, the Chisholm Trail was a significant part of America’s and Texas’ economic history and helped rebuild many distressed areas following the Civil War. The allure, mystique and impact of the Chisholm Trail and the cowboys who worked the trail will remain for generations. (2017)

Historical Marker → · 4.4 mi away

Forester Ranch

1852

William S. Forester brought his family to Denton County from Tennessee in the early 1850s, and established a ranch about 1852. He was assisted in his ranching operation by his sons, one of whom, Sol, was killed by Indians at the age of sixteen while herding cattle on the ranch. Following William Forester's death the ranch was operated by his son, Lock S. Forester (1844-1913). A Confederate veteran, Lock Forester increased the size of the ranch to over 6,000 acres. Under his management the ranch's "Two I Jinglebob" brand became well known. He supervised the ranch interests until 1890, when he moved to Denton. Ed W. Forester, son of Lock Forester, assumed management of the ranch in 1890. In 1913 the ranch was divided into sections, with Lock S. Forester's three children each receiving one-third of the ranch property. Ed Forester became a successful rancher in his own right, raising champion shorthorn cattle as well as quarter horses, sheep, and other livestock. He served two terms as Denton County Commissioner. The Forester Ranch has been an important part of the history of Denton County for over a century. (1987)

Historical Marker → · 4.9 mi away

Bishop, Absalom

1855

Absalom Bishop, town founder and Texas legislator, was born on May 4, 1804, in Pendleton District, South Carolina. As a young man he married Mary Tippen, also of Pendleton District; they had six children before her death in 1879. Following his marriage Bishop moved to Spring Place in Murray County, Georgia, and became active in local business and politics following the Cherokee land lottery. Absalom Bishop along with his brother William was a member of the Georgia Guard and was involved in both the Seminole Wars in Georgia and the forced removal of the Cherokee Indians . In 1835 Absalom Bishop was with the contingent of troops that captured and detained "Home, Sweet Home"- songwriter John Howard Payne, who had been traveling with Cherokee chief Joseph Vann. Bishop was later mentioned in Payne's memoirs. William Bishop evicted Vann from his Georgia home and gave the house to Absalom, who was forced to vacate it in favor of the Georgian who won the house in the Cherokee land lottery. During his service in the Seminole Wars and with the Georgia Guard during Indian removal Absalom Bishop acquired the rank of colonel, a title he would carry throughout his life. While in Georgia Absalom Bishop became a notable pro-slavery agitator and was an acquaintance of Sen. Robert Toombs. Inspired by the issue, Bishop may have become too extreme for Georgia politics; his biographer notes that Bishop's activities "became so radical as to necessitate his removal from Georgia," and Absalom Bishop never returned to the state. Bishop traveled north, working for a time in Washington, D.C., on behalf of Georgia land claimants, and later as a goldsmith in New York City, apparently known for his gold pens. In 1849 in Rochester, New York, Bishop and his partner, Thayer Codding, are credited by some sources with the invention of the fountain pen. In 1852 Absalom Bishop came to Texas, settling in Hopkins County and operating a sawmill there. In 1855 he became one of the first settlers in Wise County, settling on Sweetwater Creek about four miles east of what would become the county seat, Decatur. Bishop quickly became an important force in local politics. The first elections in Wise County were held in May 1856, and Bishop's choices were elected to several posts, while Bishop himself claimed the title of county clerk. In 1857 he was elected to the Texas Legislature as the representative for Wise, Denton, Collin, Cook, and Montague counties. Bishop was a powerful force behind the organization of the county and chose both the name of the county and the hilltop site of the town which would become the county seat. The town, originally named Taylorsville for Zachary Taylor, was renamed when Bishop decided that Taylor's Whig politics made him an inappropriate namesake, and introduced a bill to have the name changed to Decatur, for Stephen Decatur of the Revolutionary Navy. Bishop also played a large role in planning the town's layout, which he decided should resemble the town of McKinney in Collin County, a place Bishop had visited and admired. As the Civil War loomed, Bishop became a fiery advocate for secession , speaking before the county secession convention and inspiring Wise County's high enlistment rates. An outspoken advocate and supplier of the Confederacy, Bishop's political career was ended by the surrender in 1865. Bishop lived out his life in Wise County and died on November 30, 1883. Col. Absalom Bishop is buried in Oaklawn Cemetery under the epitaph, "Father of Decatur and Wise County."

Tsha Handbook → · 14.6 mi away

Waggoner, Daniel

1854

Daniel Waggoner, rancher, son of Solomon and Elizabeth (McGaugh) Waggoner, was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee, on July 7, 1828. He moved with his family to Blackjack Grove (now Cumby) in Hopkins County, Texas, about 1848. His father, a successful farmer and cattleman who traded in horses and slaves, died in 1849. Shortly thereafter Daniel married Nancy Moore, daughter of William Moore of Hopkins County. Their only child, William Thomas Waggoner , was born on August 31, 1852. Nancy died the following year. In 1854 Daniel purchased a herd of longhorn cattle and together with his son, mother, brothers, sisters, and a fifteen-year-old slave boy, moved to a small farm of 160 acres located on Catlett Creek in Cooke County (now in Wise County). During the 1850s and 1860s western Wise County was a frontier area frequented by hostile Indians and marauding cattle thieves. In 1856 Waggoner purchased 320 additional acres close to Cactus Hill, eighteen miles west of Decatur. His family lived near Decatur until 1859, when Daniel married Scylly (or Sicily) Ann Halsell, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Electious and Elizabeth J. Halsell. Daniel then moved his family into his log house at Cactus Hill, where they lived until after the Civil War . Waggoner was a member of the local militia and often chased after raiding Indians while Sicily and W. T. concealed themselves in the cornfield. In order to protect his family Waggoner relocated seven miles east of Decatur on Denton Creek. In 1883 he built a $50,000 Victorian mansion, El Castile, on a rocky hill overlooking Decatur. Daniel Waggoner carefully trained his son to handle stock and supervise the ranch. By 1870 they were partners operating under the title of D. Waggoner and Son. That spring a successful cattle drive to Kansas netted a profit of $55,000 and provided the financial impetus for the Waggoner empire. During the next thirty years D. Waggoner and Son heavily invested in land and cattle in Wise, Wilbarger, Foard, Wichita, Baylor, Archer, and Knox counties. Their single D brand was changed to the triple reversed D, which became the Waggoner trademark. Eventually the longhorn cattle were phased out and replaced by Hereford and Durham stock which increased the weight and value of the herds. Although he had no formal education, Waggoner was a shrewd businessman whose investments included not only land and livestock, but also five banks, three cottonseed oil mills, and a coal company. As the Waggoner holdings increased, W. T. moved the ranch headquarters to the Zacaweista Ranch south of the Red River near Vernon; Daniel, however, remained in Decatur. When he died of kidney disease in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on September 5, 1902, Daniel Waggoner owned approximately 80,000 cattle, 525,000 acres of land, and leases on more than 100,000 acres in Indian Territory. The 500,000-acre Waggoner Ranch , administered by Daniel's great-great-grandchildren in 1986, was the largest family-owned block of land in Texas.

Tsha Handbook → · 14.6 mi away

Krum, TX

1884

Krum is on Farm Road 1173 seven miles northwest of Denton in west central Denton County. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway ran a line through western Denton County in the mid-1880s. At that time the company bought 200 acres, platted a townsite, and named the community for railroad official Charles K. Krum. The community reported a population of seventy-five in 1892, and by 1900 it was thriving, with a number of businesses, four churches, and a school. In 1900 the railroad shipped at least half a million bushels of wheat, prompting the claim that Krum was the "largest inland grain market in the world." In 1905 the Flour Mill and Elevator Company and three other elevator companies were operating at the community. The mill burned in 1915, and changing storage and marketing practices eventually closed the remaining elevators. Krum's growth and prosperity continued until about 1925, when its population reached 750. The community declined as cars and trucks began carrying trade to larger markets and as young people departed for college or city jobs. With the Great Depression years the town's population level dropped below 300, then stayed low in the post- World War II period, ranging between 300 and 400 until the 1970s, when the sprawl of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area northward brought suburban homeseekers in increasing numbers. Access from Krum to Interstate Highway 35 made commuting to city jobs convenient, and the community's population rose to 605 by 1978, to 917 by 1982, and to 1,542 by 1990. In 2000 the population was 1,979. That figure had increased to 4,157 in 2010.

Tsha Handbook → · 11.6 mi away

Things to Do in Slidell

quirky 19.4 mi away
Goatman's Bridge

A 1884 iron bridge outside Denton haunted by the ghost of a murdered goat farmer.

Everything Near Slidell

286 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Slidell · 0.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Slidell, a community named for a Confederate diplomat caught up in a Civil War scandal. The post office opened in 1884, and soon after, Garrett Fletcher donated land for a church and cemetery. He…

  • Fortenberry, A. H. · 2.5 mi · Historical Marker

    In the 1850s, A. H. ("Sevier") Fortenberry and his second wife Jane (Odell) moved from Arkansas to the wilderness then existing in this section of Texas. Living as a farmer and stock raiser, Fortenberry joined neighbors…

  • Chisholm Trail in Denton County · 4.4 mi · Historical Marker

    The Chisholm Trail was a significant route for cattle drives in the late 1800s that traveled the entire length of Denton County and played a major role in the agricultural development of the county. Following the Civil…

  • Forester Ranch · 4.9 mi · Historical Marker

    William S. Forester brought his family to Denton County from Tennessee in the early 1850s, and established a ranch about 1852. He was assisted in his ranching operation by his sons, one of whom, Sol, was killed by…

  • Greenwood · 4.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Greenwood, a town that sprung up in the Texas frontier. As early as the 1850s, pioneer families like the Greenwoods and Harts settled here, giving the town and its creek their names. By the early…

  • Greenwood Masonic Lodge #779 · 5.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, where the Greenwood Masonic Lodge #779 was established in 1895. Chartered on December 4th, its first home was the second floor of a building on Main Street, which amazingly survived two…

  • Plainview Cemetery · 6.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton County, past the site of Plainview Cemetery. This burial ground served early settlers, including the Gideon and William Kimbrough families who arrived from Tennessee around 1878. The…

  • Here Stood The Home_John Simpson Chisum · 7.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Sanger, where John Simpson Chisum once built his home. From 1856 to 1862, this was the base for a man who would become known as the 'cattle king' of Texas. Chisum was born in 1824 and died in 1884,…

  • Gregg Ranch · 7.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton County, where a vast ranch once stretched across the landscape. Darius Gregg, who fought in the Texas War for Independence, came here in 1827. By the 1850s, he’d amassed nearly 20,000…

  • Cattle Trail Crossing · 7.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Decatur, and just ahead, you're crossing a ghost highway of the Old West. This area was a vital feeder branch of the famous Chisholm Trail, the superhighway of cattle drives! Blazed in 1865 by Jesse…

  • Rush Creek Community Cemetery · 8.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Rush Creek Community Cemetery, a resting place named for the very stream that once defined this area. It's a quiet reminder of a community that once thrived here, complete with a school and two…

  • Bolivar, Townsite of · 8.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton County, and right here is the site of Bolivar, a town named for a hero of South American independence. But it almost wasn't! Back in 1852, settlers debated between calling it 'New Prospect'…

Show all 200 nearby places
  • Bolivar Cemetery · 8.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Bolivar Cemetery, a burial ground that's served Sanger since at least 1863. It started as a simple plot laid out by Dr. Hiram Daily in 1852, but grew to include victims of major influenza epidemics…

  • James, Jesse and Frank, Old Campsite of · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Decatur, and you might be looking for a ghost of the Old West. This area, and much of Texas, was a hideout for some of America's most notorious outlaws. Think Jesse and Frank James, Cole Younger, and…

  • Renshaw, Dr. William · 10.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Decatur, where Dr. William Renshaw became the very first doctor to permanently settle in Wise County. Born in Illinois and practicing in Tennessee, he first came to Texas in 1853 to claim a land…

  • Butterfield Overland Stage Line Crossing · 10.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Montague County, and right here, you're crossing a piece of American history. This spot was a key crossing for the Butterfield Overland Mail Line, a legendary stagecoach route connecting St. Louis…

  • Thomason-Scott House · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Thomason-Scott House in Era. Built in 1894, this Victorian home was once the residence and office of Dr. Benjamin Richard Thomason, one of the town's first doctors. His son, Robert Ewing…

  • Era, The Town of · 11.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Era, a town that sprung up in the 1870s in a fertile farming region. Merchant J. N. Gist platted the townsite, and by 1881, a post office was established. It was named for a young girl, Era…

  • Oak Grove United Methodist Church · 11.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Oak Grove United Methodist Church, organized in 1878 by Reverend Jim Smith and Reverend E. C. Fullingim. Its first sanctuary was moved to this site in 1902, and the current building has been in use…

  • The Annual Homecoming · 11.3 mi

    The most important day on the Tira calendar isn't a national holiday; it's the first Sunday of every July. That's the day of the Tira Homecoming. On that day, the population of this quiet community swells as cars pull…

  • From Cotton Fields to Dairy Capital · 11.3 mi

    The landscape around Tira is the result of a deliberate, decades-long swap. For a century this was cotton country — by 1930 more than two-thirds of the improved acreage in Hopkins County was in cotton. Then the…

  • From School to Soul · 11.3 mi

    Tira has been two towns under two names. It started as Chapman Arm, for Jimmy Chapman, who settled here in 1850; a Methodist church went up right after the Civil War. When the post office came in 1898 the name changed…

  • Tira, TX · 11.3 mi

    Texas State Highway 19 is a vital transportation artery that runs through the western part of Tira, connecting the town to important regional centers. Heading north on this highway, one can reach Paris, a significant…

  • Krum, TX · 11.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Krum is on Farm Road 1173 seven miles northwest of Denton in west central Denton County. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway ran a line through western Denton County in the mid-1880s. At that time the company bought…

  • City of Krum · 11.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Krum, a town that started as the Jackson community back in 1876. But Krum really took off in 1886 when the railroad came through. They named the town after Charles K. Krum, a railroad official. Soon,…

  • Batis, Noah C. · 11.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Sanger Stock Farm, established in 1899 by Noah C. Batis. Batis arrived in Texas as a young man and spent his early years working as a cowboy, driving cattle up the famous Chisholm…

  • Waggoner Cemetery · 11.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Waggoner Cemetery, a final resting place with roots stretching back to the earliest days of settlement in Wise County. The story begins in 1849, when Reverend Henry Fullingim and his large family…

  • The Man-Made Lake Next Door · 12.1 mi

    Just east of Sanger lies a massive feat of engineering that reshaped this entire region: Lake Ray Roberts. Before the 1980s, this was all rolling prairie and bottomland forest along the Trinity River's Elm Fork. But as…

  • Sanger, TX · 12.1 mi

    Sanger, Texas, has seen significant growth over the decades. In 1980, the population was 2,574, marking a 60.6% increase since 1970. By 1990, the population had risen to 3,508, and by 2010, it reached 6,916. The 2020…

  • Partlow, William E., First Mayor of Sanger · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Sanger, and right here is the home of William E. Partlow, the city's very first mayor. Partlow was a Virginian who actually surrendered with Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. After the Civil War, he…

  • Elsasser, Jacob Frederick · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of a home built by a German immigrant who survived the Great Chicago Fire. Jacob Frederick Elsasser was born in Germany in 1834 and came to America with his family, running a cigar factory…

  • Sanger Presbyterian Church · 12.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Sanger Presbyterian Church, a building that served this town for over 75 years. Founded in 1896, this structure went up in 1902 on land donated by a Baptist neighbor. It quickly became more than…

  • Eleanor Roosevelt Caught the Midnight Train Here · 12.6 mi

    On the night of November 1, 1939, a crowd gathered at Sanger's little Santa Fe depot to see the First Lady. Eleanor Roosevelt had just dedicated the Little Chapel in the Woods over in Denton, but the Gulf, Colorado and…

  • The Sanger Girl Who Wrote the Long Black Veil · 12.6 mi

    One of the most-covered songs in American music was written by a woman who grew up right here in Sanger. Marijohn Wilkin, born in 1920, was raised in Sanger by a father who worked as a baker and played fiddle on the…

  • The Town That Got Three Names Before It Kept One · 12.6 mi

    The exit you're taking off Interstate 35 sits on top of a railroad water stop. In 1886 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe was racing to lay track from Fort Worth toward Indian Territory, and steam engines needed water…

  • Where the Rail Met the Trail · 12.6 mi

    Before there was a town here, there were cattle. The Chisholm Trail ran just west of this spot, and the ranches of north Denton County drove their herds north toward Kansas every season. When the Santa Fe built its…

  • The Widow Who Laid Out the Town · 12.6 mi

    Sanger owes its street grid to a widow who never lived here. Elizabeth Bullock Huling, born in Kentucky in 1820, had inherited this prairie from her late husband Thomas, who'd bought it years before. When the Santa Fe's…

  • The Coach Who Started on a Sanger Court · 12.6 mi

    Sanger sent a basketball lifer out into the college game. Larry Tidwell, born in 1953, is a Sanger native who turned a love of the sport into a decades-long career coaching women's college basketball across Texas and…

  • The Engineer Who Played Santa From the Cab · 12.6 mi

    Every December in the early 1900s, the Santa Fe train rolling through Sanger carried Santa Claus, and he was driving. Engineer Joe Gerard of Cleburne ran the line from Cleburne up through Sanger to Purcell, Oklahoma,…

  • The Summer a Monster Was Blamed for the Hogs · 12.6 mi

    In July of 1963, a wave of monster fever swept across Denton County, and Sanger got pulled into it. The legend went that two boys had stumbled on a towering, hairy creature stomping along a creek bed near Denton, and…

  • Fried Chicken in an 1898 Hardware Store · 12.6 mi

    If you want to eat inside Sanger's history instead of just driving past it, pull in at Babe's Chicken Dinner House at 202 North 4th Street. The building dates to 1898, when it went up as a hardware and tractor store in…

  • How Sanger Made Flour as Fine as Silk · 12.6 mi

    Sanger's proudest invention wasn't a machine but a texture: flour so fine the local mill sold it as Silk Finish Flour. The Sanger Mill and Elevator Company, organized by townspeople in 1888 and built up after 1897, rode…

  • The Depot That Outlived the Trains and Moved Away · 12.6 mi

    The little depot at the foot of Bolivar Street was the heart of old Sanger. A one-room building went up with the first water stop, then a fire in 1890 burned much of downtown, including the depot, so the Santa Fe…

  • Vesey, Randolph (Uncle Ran) · 12.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wise County, passing the life story of Randolph Vesey, better known as Uncle Ran. Born into slavery in Georgia around 1832, Vesey served as a body servant to Confederate General William Lewis…

  • Sanger and the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're cruising through Sanger, Denton County, and right here is where a town literally sprang up from a railroad water stop. Back in <say-as interpret-as="date" format="y">1886</say-as>, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe…

  • Flat Rock Cemetery · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Flat Rock Cemetery, a place that began with a tradition of unmarked graves. Settled in the 1850s by pioneers like Moses Ball, the earliest burials here are said to be an unknown Native…

  • Oak Lawn Cemetery · 12.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Oak Lawn Cemetery, established in 1878 when William T. Perry deeded land for a public burial ground. However, at least one grave, Eli Lindley, dates back to 1867, and others from 1857 may have been…

  • Stevens, Captain George · 12.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Flat Rock, Texas, a place that remembers Captain George Stevens. He arrived here in 1855, a man known as the champion of the defenseless. Stevens was deeply involved in protecting pioneer families…

  • Audubon · 13.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Audubon, a town that vanished right here in Wise County. Settled in 1865 by D. D. Shirey, it was named for the famous naturalist John J. Audubon. Shirey's farm became a stagecoach inn,…

  • Sanger, TX · 13.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Sanger, Texas, right on I-35. This town owes its existence to cattle drives and the railroad. Back in 1886, the Santa Fe Railroad laid tracks here, creating a stop for the vast herds being driven…

  • The Ox That Ran the Mill: Animal Horsepower Before Engines · 13.4 mi

    Just west of the future townsite, early settler Silas Christal built an oxen-powered gristmill to grind corn in the 1850s, decades before steam or electricity reached this prairie. The engineering was clever. An ox was…

  • Battle of the Knobs · 13.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of the Battle of the Knobs, a fierce clash that happened on November 10, 1837. A small company of eighteen Republic of Texas soldiers, led by Lt. A. B. Benthuysen, found themselves…

  • Valley View, TX · 13.5 mi

    On May 25, 2024, both Valley View and the city of Pilot Point were struck by an intense EF3 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale. The tornado resulted in 7 deaths, 100 injuries, and extensive damage throughout both…

  • Anatomy of a Texas Supercell · 13.5 mi

    The devastating tornado that struck Valley View on May 25, 2024, was a textbook example of severe weather science in North Texas. This region is a battleground for massive air masses. On that day, warm, moist air from…

  • St. John Missionary Baptist Church · 13.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, passing the site of St. John Missionary Baptist Church. Organized in the spring of 1882 by a group of women led by Missouri Brown, this church has served the community for over a century.…

  • Decatur, TX · 13.6 mi

    In October 1862, several Unionist sympathizers from Decatur were arrested by Confederate troops and taken to nearby Gainesville for trial on charges of treason and insurrection. This event, known as the Great Hanging at…

  • Steaks and a Movie Bank Robbery on Bailey Street · 13.6 mi

    One short block of West Bailey Street holds two Texas legends. On Thanksgiving Day 1948, Grace "Pete" Jackson opened Ranchman's Cafe, a plain storefront that grew into a steakhouse drawing diners from across North Texas…

  • The 'Free State of Wise' · 13.6 mi

    Standing in the heart of Texas, it's hard to imagine a time when this area was a hotbed of anti-Confederate suspicion. But few Wise County settlers owned slaves, and when the Civil War came, opinion here was badly split…

  • The Revolution Beneath Your Feet · 13.6 mi

    As you drive around Decatur, you're passing over the heart of a technological revolution that changed the global energy map. Deep beneath you lies the Barnett Shale, a layer of rock containing vast amounts of natural…

  • The Pink Granite Palace · 13.6 mi

    You can't miss the building that dominates downtown Decatur. The Wise County Courthouse, with its towering clock tower and distinctive pink granite, is the heart of the city. But it's actually the fourth courthouse to…

  • When the Cowboys Came to Town · 13.6 mi

    Picture the town square you see today in the late 1860s, with the eastern fork of the Chisholm Trail running just past the edge of town. From the late 1860s to the 1880s, Decatur lived off that trail. Drovers pushing…

  • From Gerald to Ponder: A Town the Railroad Renamed · 13.6 mi

    Settlers reached this stretch of western Denton County by the 1850s, drawing corn and cotton from the blackland. The town itself was born of steel rails. In 1886 the Santa Fe railroad bought a right-of-way straight…

  • East Side Elementary School · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, and to your right, you might have passed the site of East Side Elementary School. In 1882, Decatur's African American community, concentrated east of the railroad tracks, established this…

  • Ponder · 13.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Ponder, a town born from the dreams of settlers seeking rich farmland back in the 1850s. Silas Christal and his twelve children were among the first, arriving in 1855. He even built a mill to…

  • Waggoner Mansion · 13.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Imagine a time of cattle barons and sprawling Texas ranches – that's the world surrounding the Waggoner Mansion. Built in 1883 by the prominent Waggoner family, this sixteen-room mansion, also known as El Castile, was a…

  • Uz Community · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Montague County, passing the site of a farming community named Uz. Early settlers chose the name from the Biblical Book of Job. By the 1870s, Uz was a thriving farming town, peaking in the early…

  • Hopewell Baptist Church · 13.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Hopewell Baptist Church, organized in 1874 with 35 charter members. The congregation moved to this location in 1887 and built a new sanctuary in 1899. Initially meeting one Sunday a…

  • Hopewell Cemetery · 13.9 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Hopewell Cemetery, established in 1872. It was recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2010.

  • The Hollywood Bank Robbery · 14.0 mi

    In 1966, Hollywood came to Ponder. Director Arthur Penn was looking for authentic, dusty Texas towns for his movie Bonnie and Clyde, and Ponder fit the bill perfectly. The film's first bank robbery scene was shot right…

  • The Iron Compass: How the Railroad Placed Ponder · 14.0 mi

    As you cross the tracks in Ponder, consider that they are the single reason this town is here at all. There was no settlement sitting here waiting for a railroad. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe bought the land out of…

  • Ponder, TX · 14.0 mi

    In the annals of Ponder's history, a local legend stands out. It's said that the infamous duo Bonnie and Clyde either robbed the Ponder State Bank or attempted to, only to find it had gone broke the week before. This…

  • The Doctor Who Anchored a Town · 14.0 mi

    Every town needs a champion, and this one took its name from a banker. In 1886 a man named W. S. Herndon sold land in western Denton County to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway — first the right-of-way, then a…

  • Texas Agricultural Experiment Station No. 6 · 14.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton, and right here is the site of a place that changed North Texas farming forever: Agricultural Experiment Station Number 6. Established in 1910, this station wasn't just about growing crops;…

  • Texas Tourist Camp · 14.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Before interstate highways and fancy hotels, there were tourist camps like this one! They offered a safe and affordable place for early automobile travelers to rest. The Texas Tourist Camp in Decatur, Texas, was built…

  • Proffer, Robert Lee · 14.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, not far from Ponder, where Robert Lee Proffer was born. He wasn't just a local educator; Proffer was a driving force behind a major overhaul of the Texas public school system. As a…

  • Tilghman, S. W., House · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the S. W. Tilghman House in Decatur. Born in Tennessee, Tilghman arrived in Wise County in 1870. He married a local woman, Eliza Miller, and they had four children. Tilghman was a master builder, and…

  • Texas Tourist Camp Complex · 14.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the old Texas Tourist Camp Complex, a relic from the early days of road trips. Businessman E. F. Boydston bought this spot in 1927, turning a feed lot into a gas station and cabins for travelers. By…

  • Ponder, TX · 14.1 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Ponder, a town that owes its existence to the railroad. Back in 1886, the Santa Fe Railway laid tracks right through this area. The railroad initially called this spot Gerald, but there was…

  • Decatur, TX · 14.2 mi

    In the midst of the Civil War, Decatur, Texas, witnessed a dark chapter in its history. In October 1862, Unionist sympathizers were arrested by Confederate troops and taken to Gainesville for trial on charges of treason…

  • Vesey, Randolph · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Decatur, and you might have just passed a legend. Randolph Vesey wasn't just a respected homeowner; he was a champion pioneer fiddler whose music filled the air at frontier forts across this county.…

  • Colonel Absalom Bishop · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, the county seat of Wise County, a town that owes a lot to Colonel Absalom Bishop. Bishop, a veteran of the Seminole War, arrived in Texas in 1852 and settled here in 1855. He was…

  • Sponsored North Texas State University · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wise County, the birthplace of Charles Vernon Terrell. He started as a lawyer here in 1886, then served in the Texas Senate, even sponsoring the act that created North Texas State University. But…

  • Terrell, Charles Vernon · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    A leading public man in Texas, 1896-1939. Born in Wise County to early (1854) settlers. After two years at Texas A & M, read law and began practice in 1886. Served 1888-92 as Decatur City attorney; 1892-96 as county…

  • Stone Prison, Old · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Decatur, and right here is the Old Stone Prison. Built around 1859 using prison labor, this wasn't just a jail – the main part was the sheriff's home! The basement served as the jail cells, with…

  • Wise County, C.S.A. · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, the heart of Wise County, a place that saw some serious action during the Civil War. <break time="400ms"/> Even though the county voted against secession, its men were eager to fight,…

  • Captain George Stevens · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wise County, where Captain George Stevens carved out a life on the Texas frontier. Born in Alabama in 1830, Stevens moved here in 1855 and quickly became a leader in defending settlers from Native…

  • Wise County Messenger · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, and right here is the birthplace of a Texas newspaper that's seen it all. The Wise County Messenger started in 1880, bouncing between Paradise and Alvord before settling in Decatur in…

  • Decatur First United Methodist Church · 14.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Decatur's oldest congregation, organized way back in 1862. Services started in a vacant store, and early members even used their home and pump organ for worship. The first sanctuary was…

  • First National Bank of Decatur · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Decatur's First National Bank, a financial pillar for over a century. Organized in 1883 by local businessmen, it was led for decades by W. T. Waggoner, a Texas legend in cattle and oil.…

  • Gose Trees · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the last remnants of a historic hedge, right here near Decatur. These aren't just any trees; these are bois d'arc, planted back in 1861. They formed a natural, spiny fortress around the log cabin of…

  • Ball Knob Cemetery · 14.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Ball Knob Cemetery in Wise County. Originally owned by pioneer James Ball, Sr., it served as a burial ground for family and friends. The land was deeded to the Audubon community in 1890 and…

  • Episcopal Mission of the Ascension · 14.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, and look to your left for the Episcopal Mission of the Ascension. This little church, consecrated by Bishop A. C. Garrett, was built way back in 1889, facing Main Street. It earned the…

  • Butterfield Overland Stage Line · 14.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, folks, and right here is where a legendary piece of American history blazed a trail. Imagine, if you can, semi-weekly stagecoach service connecting St. Louis all the way to San Francisco!…

  • Bishop, Absalom · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Absalom Bishop, town founder and Texas legislator, was born on May 4, 1804, in Pendleton District, South Carolina. As a young man he married Mary Tippen, also of Pendleton District; they had six children before her…

  • Waggoner, Daniel · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Daniel Waggoner, rancher, son of Solomon and Elizabeth (McGaugh) Waggoner, was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee, on July 7, 1828. He moved with his family to Blackjack Grove (now Cumby) in Hopkins County, Texas, about…

  • Williams, Guinn Terrell, Jr. [Big Boy] · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Decatur, Texas, the hometown of Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, Jr. He was born here in 1899 and headed to Hollywood in 1919, drawn by the new motion picture business. His good looks and horsemanship…

  • Wise County · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Wise County, a place that was once a vital frontier outpost. Established in 1856, this region was home to Wichita and Delaware Indians before settlers arrived. But life here wasn't always…

  • Decatur, TX · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Decatur, the county seat of Wise County. This town was established in 1856, originally named Taylorsville. But just two years later, in 1858, a state legislator changed the name to Decatur to…

  • Dallas Baptist University · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Wise County, and right here is where Decatur Baptist College got its start back in 1891. It was founded by the Northwest Texas Baptist Association, who chose Decatur for its central location and…

  • Lang, John J. · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Decatur, Texas, a town that owes much of its early financial success to a man named John J. Lang. After fighting in the Civil War, losing an eye at the Battle of Seven Pines, and even trying his…

  • Pickett, George Bibb · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Wise County, Texas, right near Decatur. Back in 1854, a man named George Bibb Pickett was drawn to this area by the promise of wide-open pastureland. He settled here, building his life and raising…

  • Terrell, Charles Vernon · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Wise County, perhaps near Decatur, where Charles Vernon Terrell got his start. Born in a log cabin in 1861, Terrell's life was a testament to Texas grit. He worked as a store clerk, drove ox…

  • Williams, Guinn Terrell · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, not far from Decatur. Right here, you're passing through the heart of land once shaped by Guinn Terrell Williams. He wasn't just a local banker and rancher; Williams rose to represent…

  • Terrell, John James · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through what was northeastern Wise County, near where John James Terrell was born on January 28, 1857. He grew up in Decatur after his family moved there for protection from intensified Indian conflicts.…

  • Woodruff, Henry Grady · 14.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Wise County, not far from Decatur, the hometown of Henry Grady Woodruff. He wasn't just any lawyer; Woodruff served in the Texas Legislature for over a decade. He started in the House of…

  • Decatur Baptist College · 14.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, and right here is a spot with a claim to fame in higher education. In 1898, Decatur Baptist College was planned as the world's very first institution designed from the ground up as a…

  • Forestburg · 15.2 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Forestburg, a town born from the ashes of the Civil War. Look around at the land that was once a battleground. Pioneers settled here after the war, facing down the challenges of the frontier and…

  • Perrin Log Cabin · 15.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Perrin Log Cabin. William Perrin and his wife, Charlotte, along with two other families, left Rock Castle, Kentucky in the fall of 1853, arriving forty days later in the Peters Colony near Dallas.…

  • Rhoads Family Cemetery · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wise County, heading towards Alvord. Look to your right, and you'll see the Rhoads Family Cemetery. Originally from Tennessee, Abner and Chloe Rhoads arrived here in 1870 with their family,…

  • Gribble Springs Baptist Church · 15.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Gribble Springs Baptist Church, established in 1871 by 23 members from the Pond Creek community. The Rev. W.C. West was its first pastor. The congregation met in a schoolhouse before building their…

  • Wise County Poor Farm & Cemetery, Site of · 15.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving near Decatur, and you're passing the site of the old Wise County Poor Farm. From 1885 to 1962, this 320-acre farm was home to dependent citizens and county convicts who worked out their fines. The first…

  • Immaculate Conception Catholic Church · 15.7 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Denton's Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. This mission started around 1890, with services held in a local barn! They finally built their first church in 1893, though it was replaced…

  • Valley View, TX (Cooke County) · 15.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Valley View, Texas, a town that faced a double dose of disaster in 1924. First, a fire swept through the east side of the town square in the fall. Then, on December 19th, bank robbers set a second…

  • Valley View, TX (Upshur County) · 15.8 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Upshur County, near Gilmer, and you're passing through the community of Valley View. Settled by formerly enslaved African American families around 1880, this wasn't just a place to live; it was a…

  • Valley View · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Valley View, a town that started as a dream on a tall grass prairie. In 1870, Captain L.W. Lee and his wife Mary Ann left Missouri for this spot, and soon friends joined them. By 1872, they…

  • Eakins Cemetery · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Ponder, and right here is Eakins Cemetery. It began around 1855 on land owned by Noah and Susan Eakins, who settled here from Kentucky. The first burial was Angelina Rayburn, who died tragically…

  • First Baptist Church of Decatur · 15.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Decatur's First Baptist Church. Organized in 1856, it first met in a log cabin. The church has a long history of community involvement, including working with Northwest Texas Baptist…

  • Long, Ira - Texas Ranger Captain · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Decatur area, the former stomping grounds of Texas Ranger Captain Ira Long. Born in Indiana and wounded twice fighting for the Confederacy, Long joined the Texas Rangers in 1874. He quickly rose…

  • Huff Family Massacre · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Wise County, near Alvord. It's 1874, and this area is seeing one of its last Indian raids. While C.W. Huff and his son were working the far fields of their new homestead, tragedy struck the home.…

  • Wise County Reunion · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Decatur, and you might just be passing the site of one of Texas's oldest public events! It started as informal gatherings for Confederate veterans in the 1860s and 70s. By 1881, it grew into a…

  • Mount Zion Baptist Church & Jonestown Cemetery · 16.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the site of Mount Zion Baptist Church and Jonestown Cemetery. Andrew Jackson Jones deeded land here back in 1833 for the church and cemetery, with the earliest marked grave dating to that same year.…

  • Sand Hill Community · 16.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Sand Hill, a place that was the heart of pioneer culture in North Texas. Folks gathered here at a good spring, right near the hill that gave this community its name. Back in 1854, the first…

  • Perryman Cemetery · 16.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Perryman Cemetery, a final resting place for folks who shaped this corner of Texas. The story here starts in 1862 with the unmarked grave of an infant. Not long after, in 1863, a well-digger…

  • How the Purple Heart Trail Grew Across Texas · 16.6 mi

    This highway is part of the Purple Heart Trail, a symbolic trail that runs through all fifty states to honor those killed or wounded in combat while serving in the armed forces. In Texas it started with one road. In two…

  • A Star in the Window, a Marker by the Road · 16.6 mi

    This road carries a Blue Star Memorial Highway designation, one of a string of them across Texas. The name comes from a family tradition. When someone in a household was serving in the armed forces, the family displayed…

  • First Baptist Church of Denton · 16.8 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton, and right here is the site of the First Baptist Church. It started way back in 1858, organized by just twelve people in the old log courthouse. For its first decade, the congregation…

  • First Christian Church of Denton · 17.0 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton, and right here is the site of the First Christian Church. This congregation got its start way back in 1868, led by Elder Terrell Jasper. They met in the Masonic Hall at first, then put up…

  • The Gas Boom Beneath Your Feet · 17.1 mi

    As you travel through Alvord, one of the biggest economic and technological stories of the last half century is playing out, completely unseen, about a mile and a half beneath your feet. This area sits atop the Barnett…

  • Alvord, TX · 17.1 mi

    In 1882, the town that was originally known as Nina adopted its present name, Alvord, in honor of the president of the Fort Worth and Denver Railway. By 1890, Alvord had become a retail center for area farmers. The…

  • North Texas State Fair and Rodeo · 17.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton, and right here is the home of the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo! It all kicked off way back on October 15th, 1885, as the Denton County Blooded Stock and Fair. For decades, it…

  • Spring Creek Cemetery · 17.1 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Spring Creek Cemetery, a chronicle of Cooke County history. The earliest burial here dates back to 1875, and you'll find pioneers, Revolutionary War descendants, and soldiers who died in World War I…

  • The Rock Legend Who Came to Denton to Study Rocks · 17.3 mi

    In the fall of 1954, a shy kid from Wink, Texas, enrolled at North Texas State College in Denton to major in geology. His name was Roy Orbison, and the rocks didn't take. His stay was brief enough that he never made the…

  • An Eagle Got His Start Drumming in Denton · 17.3 mi

    Before he was keeping time and singing lead for the Eagles, Don Henley was a college kid in Denton. A native of Linden in far East Texas, Henley came west to attend what was then North Texas State University around…

  • First University Building · 17.3 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the birthplace of a major Texas university! Back in 1890, Joshua Chilton opened his Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute in downtown Denton. The very next year, the city built this…

  • Evers House · 17.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Evers House, a grand Neoclassical home built in 1903 for Robert and Mary Evers. It was designed by Austin architects C.H. Page, Jr. & Bro. and built by local builder Frank Craft. Originally…

  • Historical Building · 17.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the oldest building on the North Texas campus, built way back in 1912. It started life as a library and gym, but by 1925, it was home to a fascinating museum. History professor Joseph Lyman Kingsbury…

  • First United Methodist Church Alvord · 17.4 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the First United Methodist Church in Alvord. Originally organized in 1884 as the Methodist Episcopal Church, south, it has served the community for 130 years. The original 600-pound bell from 1884 is…

  • The Lost Neighborhood of Quakertown · 17.5 mi

    The green space you see just southeast of Denton's downtown square, now called Quakertown Park, holds the ghost of a neighborhood. From the 1870s until the early 1920s, this was a prosperous African American community…

  • The Boy From Alvord Who Set the Price of Oil · 17.5 mi

    One of the most powerful oil regulators in American history was born in this little Wise County town in 1892. Ernest Thompson served on the Texas Railroad Commission for thirty-three years, the longest tenure in its…

  • The University That Taught America Jazz · 17.5 mi

    A huge part of Denton's identity comes from the University of North Texas, and specifically, its College of Music. In 1947, this school did something revolutionary: it approved Gene Hall's proposal for a degree in…

  • Little D's Independent Music Scene · 17.5 mi

    While the university provides the musicians, the city itself provides the stage. Denton, often called 'Little D,' is famous for its fiercely independent and creative music scene. It’s a culture built around small,…

  • The Town That Took on Fracking · 17.5 mi

    Deep beneath Denton lies the Barnett Shale, a geological formation rich with natural gas. In the early 2000s, a technology called hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' unlocked this gas, leading to a drilling boom.…

  • University of North Texas College of Music · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton right now, home to a world-changing musical first. Back in 1947, North Texas State Teachers College, now the University of North Texas, did something no other university had ever done: it…

  • Denton, TX · 17.5 mi

    Denton's history is deeply rooted in Texas' early days. The city and county were both named after John B. Denton, a pioneer and militia captain who was killed in a skirmish with the Kichai people in 1841. Denton County…

  • Breeden, Leon · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, home of the legendary One O'Clock Lab Band. Right here, back in 1959, Leon Breeden took over the jazz program at North Texas State College. He transformed it from a simple 'dance-band'…

  • Sheridan, Clara Lou [Ann] · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, the hometown of Ann Sheridan, the "Oomph Girl" of the 1940s. Born Clara Lou Sheridan in 1915, she got her start right here, attending North Texas State Teachers College. Her sister…

  • Kiowa Raid of 1868 (SW Part of County) · 17.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through what used to be the Willa Walla Valley, near Valley View. Just a day and night, January 5th and 6th of 1868, saw a brutal Kiowa raid. Led by Chief Big Tree, over 150 warriors swept through here,…

  • Atkins, Joseph Louis · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Joseph Louis Atkins, African-American civil rights activist, educator, and businessman, was born in Jefferson, Texas, on March 6, 1936. He was the son of Willie and Mable Atkins. His family moved to Dallas in 1950, and…

  • Watermelon Country · 17.5 mi

    In its early decades Alvord was a busy farm trade center, and the country around it was known for two things: cattle and watermelons. The sandy soil of this stretch of Wise County grew melons well, and the town thrived…

  • Berry, Kearie Lee · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, the hometown of Kearie Lee Berry, a man whose life spanned incredible military service and athletic achievement. Born in 1893, Berry was a star athlete at the University of Texas,…

  • Corpron, Carlotta · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, a place that became home to a pioneering photographer, Carlotta Corpron. Arriving in 1935 to teach at Texas State College for Women, she began experimenting with her camera, not…

  • Denton Arts and Jazz Festival · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, and right here in Quakertown Park, a massive celebration of music and art unfolds every spring. It started in 1980 as the 'Spring Fling,' and by 1985, jazz had its own dedicated festival.…

  • Eberle, Edward Walter · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, the birthplace of Edward Walter Eberle, a man who shaped the modern U.S. Navy. Born in 1864, Eberle graduated from the Naval Academy in 1885 and spent nearly fifty years innovating…

  • Evans, Herschel · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, the birthplace of Herschel Evans, a jazz saxophone legend. Born in 1909, Evans learned his craft in the legendary jam sessions of Kansas City, eventually switching to tenor sax at…

  • Ford, O'Neil · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, maybe near Denton, where architect O'Neil Ford got his start. He never finished college, but that didn't stop him. He learned by doing, working with Dallas architect David R. Williams…

  • Francis, Charles Inge · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Texas, maybe near Houston, and you're passing by the legacy of Charles Inge Francis. Born in Denton in 1893, Francis wasn't just a lawyer; he was a player in Texas's booming oil and gas industry.…

  • Little Chapel in the Woods · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, home to the stunning Little Chapel in the Woods. This architectural masterpiece wasn't built by professionals alone. Students, faculty, and even members of the National Youth…

  • Moore, Frederick Douglas · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, a town that owes much of its African American community's development to Frederick Douglas Moore. Born right here in 1875, Moore was a self-taught scholar, a talented musician who…

  • Morrison Milling Company · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, home of a flour mill that put Texas on the map! It started in 1886 as a farmers' cooperative, the Farmers' Alliance Milling Company. They hoped to be like successful co-ops in the Midwest.…

  • Texas Woman's University · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, home to Texas Woman's University. Did you know this school started because of a huge push from women's groups like the Grange and the WCTU? They wanted a place where young women could get…

  • Welch, Otis G. · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, a town that owes a lot to Otis G. Welch. He arrived here in 1852, a lawyer from Maine who'd graduated from Yale. Welch wasn't just any lawyer; he helped lay out this very city and…

  • Quakertown, TX · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, and right here, in what is now the heart of the city, you're passing through the former site of Quakertown. This vibrant African-American community began forming in the mid-1870s,…

  • Hubbard, Louis Herman · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    Louis Herman Hubbard, teacher and college president, the son of Gorham Eustis and Louise (Mansanto) Hubbard, was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, on February 10, 1882. His father, who was United States consul to Puerto…

  • The Forest Belt That Blocked the Pioneers · 17.5 mi

    Alvord sits right on a natural seam in the Texas landscape. Wise County is split between open grassland prairie to the east and a band of woodland called the Western Cross Timbers to the west, and the town straddles the…

  • Blount, James P. · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a town that owes much of its early development to men like Dr. James P. Blount. Born in Mississippi in 1849, Blount moved to Denton as a boy and became a pillar of the community. He wasn't…

  • Carroll, Joseph Alexander · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, a place that owes its very layout to Joseph Alexander Carroll. Born in Missouri in 1832, Carroll arrived in Denton County in 1853. He wasn't just a lawyer and judge; he was also a…

  • Denton Blues Festival · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, home to a vibrant celebration of music! Right here, the Denton Blues Festival transforms Quakertown Park every September into a hub for blues lovers and aspiring musicians. It…

  • Denton Field · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Denton, and right here, Denton Field played a crucial role in training pilots for World War II. From 1940 to 1945, this was the North Texas base for the Civilian Aeronautics Authority's…

  • Denton Record-Chronicle · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, and right here is where a newspaper shaped the town's identity for over a century. Back in 1882, the Denton Chronicle started, and by 1899, it merged with another paper to become the…

  • Edwards, William Cunningham · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, where William Cunningham Edwards made his mark on local history. In 1899, he took two struggling newspapers, the Chronicle and the County Record, and merged them into the weekly Record and…

  • Ellis, Merrill · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a city that became a hub for experimental music thanks to Merrill Ellis. Born in Cleburne in 1916, Ellis came to North Texas State University in 1962 and immediately started pushing…

  • Geers, Charles W. · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a town that became the heart of North Texas journalism thanks to Charles W. Geers. After fighting in the Civil War and traveling the South, Geers landed here in 1868. He partnered up and…

  • Hill, Fitzhugh Francisco · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, the hometown of Fitzhugh Francisco Hill, a lawyer and state representative who served twelve years in the Texas House. Hill was known for his fiery oratory and his tenacity, once described…

  • Hopkins, George Milton, Sr. · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, the hometown of George Milton Hopkins, Sr. He wasn't just any local lawyer; Hopkins served Denton County and surrounding areas in the Texas Legislature for years. Back in 1915, he…

  • Kearby, Jerome Claiborne · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a town that was home to Jerome Claiborne Kearby, a man who lived a truly Texas life. He enlisted as a fifteen-year-old "boy soldier" in the Civil War, rising to the rank of major by the…

  • Owsley, Alvin Clark · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a city that owes a lot to Alvin Clark Owsley. He arrived here in 1873, starting as a public school teacher. But Owsley wasn't just a teacher; he was a driving force behind education and…

  • Owsley, Alvin Mansfield · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a town that was once home to Alvin Mansfield Owsley. Born here in 1888, Owsley was a lawyer, a decorated WWI veteran, and even served as the national commander of the American Legion. But…

  • Schmitz, John B. · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a town that owes a lot to John B. Schmitz. He arrived here in 1878, a young businessman from Illinois. Schmitz didn't just settle in; he dove headfirst into building this community. He…

  • University of North Texas · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a town that owes its start to education. Back in 1890, this was a quiet farming community. Joshua Chilton opened Texas Normal College and Teachers' Training Institute, hoping to train…

  • Woman's Collection, Texas Woman's University · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, home to a remarkable archive: The Woman's Collection at Texas Woman's University. Established back in 1932, it's one of the largest and oldest collections dedicated to women's history in…

  • Mounts-Wright House · 17.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton, passing the site of the Mounts-Wright House. The Mounts family were early settlers here in the 1850s, contributing to Denton's growth through farming and land ownership. Though the…

  • James Newton and Eva Tabor Rayzor House · 17.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the home of James Newton and Eva Tabor Rayzor, built in 1909. James Rayzor was a prominent Denton businessman, involved in ventures like the Alliance Mill and the ice company. He also helped found…

  • Lipscomb-Doggett House · 17.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past Lipscomb-Doggett House. The Lipscomb-Doggett House was built by Dr. Priestly Lipscomb (1869-1942) and wife, Molly Binyon (1871-1942). The couple contracted the one-story frame house from J.C.…

  • Denton, TX (Denton County) · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a city that owes its very existence to a desire for a central county seat. Back in 1857, residents wanted a courthouse right in the middle of Denton County. So, three men donated 100…

  • Bell, Charles C. · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, a city that owes a bit of its educational history to Charles C. Bell. Bell, a farmer and businessman, served two terms in the Texas House of Representatives, representing this very county…

  • Denton State School · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving near Denton, Texas, home to a state school for the intellectually disabled. Back in 1957, the city really wanted this facility. The Denton Chamber of Commerce led a massive campaign, and in just 34 days,…

  • Minor, Fred Hawthorne · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, Texas, home of Fred Minor, a lawyer who reached the pinnacle of Texas politics. After graduating first in his class from the University of Texas law school in 1916, Minor practiced law…

  • Selwyn School · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through Denton, and right here is the site of the former Selwyn School. It started back in 1955 as the Denton Civic Boys Choir School. By 1957, it was reorganized and renamed Denton Preparatory School.…

  • Baker, Doris Elva Whiteside · 17.5 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, maybe near Dallas, and right here, Doris Whiteside Baker was making her mark. She grew up in Denton, graduated from North Texas State Teachers College, and by World War II, she was…

  • Rayzor-Graham House · 17.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Rayzor-Graham House in Denton. Built in 1912 by local builder M.T. Goodwin for business leader J. Fred Rayzor, this home showcases classic American Foursquare architecture with charming bungalow…

  • Alvord Lodge No. 512, A.F. & A.M. · 17.5 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Alvord Lodge No. 512, a Masonic organization. It began in 1879 near Audubon, moved to Alvord in 1886, and built this new stone hall in 1991. The Masons continue their tradition of community…

  • The Corridor of Commerce · 17.6 mi

    The highway you’re driving on, Interstate 35W, is more than just a road; it’s the spine of a massive logistics machine that defines Northlake. This stretch of highway is the heart of the AllianceTexas project, a…

  • The Ranchers' Republic · 17.6 mi

    The town of Northlake is essentially a small republic founded by ranchers. At the end of the 1950s this southwest corner of Denton County was nothing but ranchland, and the families who had held it for generations could…

  • Once Called Nina, and Not Named for an Outlaw · 17.6 mi

    Alvord almost had a completely different name. The settlement started in the early 1880s as a community called Nina. When the Fort Worth and Denver Railway arrived in 1882, the town renamed itself Alvord, in honor of…

  • The Town Square Reimagined · 17.6 mi

    If you drive through the development called Pecan Square, you might feel like you've stumbled onto a classic Texas town that's been here a century. It's all brand new. Hillwood Communities broke ground here in the late…

  • Covington, Weldon Joseph · 17.6 mi · Tsha Handbook

    You're driving through North Texas, and right here in Alvord, a young Weldon Covington was already making music. At just nine years old, he was the pianist for the local Baptist church. Then, in his junior year of high…

  • Simmons-Maxwell House · 17.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton, and just ahead is the Simmons-Maxwell House, built in 1915. It's a beautiful example of Arts and Crafts Mission Style architecture, designed with an open floor plan, stucco walls, and…

  • Mounts House · 17.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Mounts House, built in 1898 by Robert Noble Mounts and his wife Nannie. Robert's family was instrumental in Denton's early development, with his mother establishing the first Sunday School and…

  • Christal House · 17.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving through Denton, passing the historic Christal House. Born in 1859, Jim Christal overcame his father's mysterious death and a cowboy career cut short by injury. He then built a fortune in farming, milling,…

  • Woodrum-Boyd House · 17.6 mi · Historical Marker

    You're driving past the Woodrum-Boyd House, a beautiful Tudor Revival home built in 1932 for E.N. and Comette Woodrum. It was later owned by Judge Benjamin Wade Boyd and his wife Ila Mae, who called it 'Boyd's Nest.'…

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