Texas Historical Marker #12092
Roberts. In 1882 the Houston and Texas Central Railroad bought 100 acres of land from Texas Governor Oran Roberts. As the terminus of the company's northeastern line, Roberts quickly attracted business people. The town boasted a school for white students and another for black students, a post office with daily mail service, a doctor, a blacksmith, a carpenter, dry goods and grocers, general stores, and saloons. Roberts gained a reputation as a boomtown, full of opportunity and vice. In 1892 the bankrupt Houston and Texas Central sold its northeastern line to New Yorker Hetty Green who reorganized the railroad as the Texas Midland under the leadership of her son Edward "Ned" Green. A land dispute between the two railroad companies led Ned Green to purchase land just north of Roberts, establishing a depot there and platting the new town of Quinlan. Merchants and business people soon moved their facilities to Quinlan, followed by the First Missionary Baptist Church of Roberts and others wishing to escape Roberts' lawlessness. The Quinlan Depot and post office were dedicated on October 17, 1894; the Roberts Depot and Telegraph Office were promptly dismantled by railroad agents. A fire of unknown origin destroyed Roberts in 1895. (1998) Incise on back: Dedicated to Joe Wesley Renshaw and his love of south Hunt County history. Marker researched by Donna Smith. #12092
?, Quinlan, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #07833
Captain Henry W. Wade. (1832-1912) Served with distinction in Civil War (1861-65) as captain in Confederate army, Co. B., 6th Texas Cavalry, Ross' Brigade. A native of Kentucky, he came to Hunt County as a young man. In 1859 married Elizabeth J. Kuykendall and made home on 640-acre tract of which this cemetery is a part. Represented county in Texas Constitutional Convention of 1875. In private life raised and sold livestock throughout state. Descendants include noted Dallas District Attorney Henry Wade (b. 1914) #7833
?, Quinlan, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #07826
Quinlan. The city of Quinlan began about 1892 as a stop on the Texas Midland Railroad. Owned by famed bond investor Hettie Green, called by the contemporary press "the witch of Wall Street," the railroad was operated by her son, Edward H. R. Green. Texas Midland became a subsidiary of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, and the city which built up around a depot constructed here between the towns of Roberts and Greenville was named Quinlan in honor of George A. Quinlan, the general manager of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. A post office opened in Quinlan in 1894, and by 1896 the city was incorporated. Harry Ford served as first mayor. Quinlan soon became the center of a large agricultural area, providing a railroad shipping point for growers of cotton and other crops. By the early 20th century the town boasted three cotton gins, numerous businesses and fraternal organizations, banks, schools, churches, and homes. Oil exploration and production overtook cotton farming as the area's economic base in the 1930s and 1940s, and the construction of Lake Tawakoni in the 1950s brought another economic boost to the community. #7826
Main and Church St., Quinlan, TX, United States