Category Archives: North Texas History

More Than the Alamo

Next Friday is History Day in Texas Schools. Schools all over the state participate and winners go to Washington in June for National History Day Competition. I have been a judge for years, since my son was in middle school. … Continue reading

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The Roarin’ Twenties

Happy Days are here again. It’s 2020, time of the Roarin’ Twenties. When will the Flappers get to town? What about the “Bathtub gin” and happy times when women’s fashions were incredibly scanty for that time period and gentlemen wore … Continue reading

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Land Records in Early Texas

Texas has a very unique legal heritage that differs in many ways from the other states in the Union. Because the first flag to fly over the area now known as Texas was the Spanish flag, many of our laws … Continue reading

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A Peek at Hopkins County

Over the years I have accumulated several county history books, many telling stories of Northeast Texas. It is amazing that much of the history in one county, spread into one or more adjacent counties. Settlers may have located in isolated … Continue reading

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Update on the Courthouse Cannon

Monuments were important to communities, to counties, and to individuals during in 20th century. Today, we argue the value of many such monuments. While we can generally recognize a Civil War piece of art, those created to honor World War … Continue reading

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Where is a World War II relic hiding?

For many years a Japanese artillery piece hid in broad daylight behind some bushes on the northwest corner of Hunt County Courthouse Square. Recently those bushes were removed and voila, a Japanese 105-millimeter field howitzer appeared. There is definitely a … Continue reading

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Tree Climbing

Twenty years ago, Melva Geyer, then editor of the Greenville Herald Banner, and I discussed the need for a column regarding the W. Walworth Harrison Public Library. Since I was the Genealogy and Local History librarian, I became the columnist. … Continue reading

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Old Concord Church and Graveyard

A doctor in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, asked to meet me at the Old Concord Graveyard adjacent to Concord Baptist Church at noon on Halloween. The church is one of the oldest churches in Hunt County, if not the oldest. Founded by … Continue reading

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Wheatville, Home of a National Politician

The small Cass County town of Wheatville was first settled in 1852. At some time, the citizens picked up, moved three or four miles down the road to become Naples. Rev. Sam Morris arrived in town from Alabama. Evidence leads … Continue reading

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Frontier Life Was Hard

The nine-year-old boy and his family arrived on their new farm in the southwest corner of Dallas County in 1852. It became his home, his life, and his love for the next eighty-two years. When they arrived bears, panthers, wildcats, … Continue reading

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