Texas Historical Marker #11817
Allen. Fertile land and plentiful water drew settlers to this area from as early as the 1840s. This part of Collin County was well populated by 1876 when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a water supply stop on Cottonwood Creek near this site. The railroad stop and newly created town lots established a center of commerce for local farmers and their families and provided better equipment and broader markets for agricultural production. The surrounding open prairie soon was developed into small family farms. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad filed documents to create the town of Allen from the James L. Read survey in 1876. The village was named for Ebenezer Allen, a former Republic and State of Texas attorney general and a founder of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. A dry goods store, barber shop, and school soon opened in the rapidly growing town. Sam Bass reportedly led an outlaw gang that robbed the Allen Depot on February 22, 1878. This was probably the first successful train robbery in Texas. By 1884 the town of Allen had three churches, a flour mill, and a population of 350. In 1908 the Texas Traction Company built an electric railway through town, calling it the Interurban. The citizenry numbered 550 by 1915. Allen was incorporated in 1953 with 400 residents. Electric railway service ended in 1948 but railway freight service continued. Strong economic growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area helped the town's population grow to include more than 19,000 citizens in the 1990s. (1998) #11817
?, Allen, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #06181
John Myers McKinney. (1781-1847) Born in Surry county, North Carolina, J.M. McKinney was the son of James and Mary (Ballard) McKinney. In 1809 he married Peggy Margot Lee. They lived in Tennessee, Missouri, and Arkansas before coming to Texas in 1846. After settling his family on this land in Collin county, McKinney left to enlist in the Mexican War. He died a year later while in the service of Captain William Fitzhugh's Company of Bell's mounted volunteers. Recorded - 1983 #6181
?, Allen, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #06175
Lovejoy School. Lovejoy School was created in 1917 by the consolidation of Forest Grove and Lick Springs schools. It was named for Mrs. J.L. Lovejoy (d. 1939), a local clubwoman who promoted many educational causes for the area. Grades 1 through 9 were taught here in the "Little Red Schoolhouse," which was built in 1917 and contained 4 classrooms. Lovejoy School experienced an influx of new students into its rural district in the 1960s, and later expanded its facilities to accommodate the increased enrollment. (1983) #6175
?, Allen, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #00127
Allen Station of the Texas Electric Railway. The Community of Allen, founded in the 1870s, experienced a surge of growth after the arrival of the Texas Traction Company in 1908. The town was a stop on the interurban line between Dallas and Sherman, serviced daily by hourly passenger cars from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Two daily freight deliveries brought mail, produce, and railway express packages. After first operating from a farmhouse, Texas Traction bought this property in 1912 and built this brick depot in 1913. The railway became the Texas Electric in 1917, with service from Denison to Waco until it was abandoned in 1948. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986 #127
105 S. Butler St., Allen, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #00123
Allen Cemetery. Located on land purchased from Mr. and Mrs. John W. Whisenant, this cemetery was formally established on April 5, 1884, by the International Order of Odd Fellows, local Lodge No. 249. Encompassing almost three acres of land, the cemetery has served the Allen community for over a century. The oldest legible grave marker here is that of Rebecca L. Hamilton (d.1883), although local oral tradition holds that earlier graves may exist, including a slave burial ground in the southeast corner of the property. Tombstone inscriptions reveal evidence of early epidemics and include the names of a number of veterans of foreign wars. Robert J. Cuffman (d.1918) was killed in the Meuse-Argonne offensive in World War I. Mahlon Brackney served in the Spanish-American War. Also represented on grave markers here are notable early citizens of the community, including Permelia Ford, a pioneer settler, and Doctors H.N. Compton and William F. Wolford. The Allen Cemetery Association, organized in 1899, cares for the historic graveyard and sponsors an annual Decoration Day. (1988) #123
400 E McDermott Dr. (FM 2170), Allen, TX, United States