Denison

By Brian Hander

Denison was founded in 1872, when the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railroad established a terminus just south of the Red River. The small town quickly grew to hold a prominent place in the 19th-century American West, and it prospered alongside the railroad, becoming the gateway to Texas from the North. Denison has the distinction of being the birthplace of Pres. Dwight Eisenhower, the site of the first free, graded public school in Texas, and home to beautiful Lake Texoma. This book features a diverse collection of postcard images and takes readers on a journey through Denison's colorful past.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Feb 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781439655665

Brian Hander

Author Brian Hander is a native of Denison and a product of the Denison school system. He earned a doctorate in pharmacy from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and is currently restoring a home in Denison with his wife, Erin. The postcards and stories of the city's vibrant past come from the author's collection as well as those of Mary Karam, Donna Hord Hunt, and Mavis Anne Bryant.

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INTRODUCTION

Denison was, and always will be, a city of the railroad. The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (MKT), also known as the Katy, was quickly approaching Texas from the north, and its owners were anxious to establish a terminal beyond the Red River. Sherman was originally offered the site of the terminus, if the city could raise $50,000 in bonds to secure the Katy.

However, the Houston & Texas Central Railway (H&TC), one of the chief rivals of the Katy, was building north from Dallas, and the residents of Sherman were confident that their city would be the end of the line for the railroad. It was with this confidence that Sherman rejected the Katy’s offer, forcing railroad officials to become creative if they wanted to have a terminus in North Texas.

William Benjamin Munson, a resident of Sherman, joined forces with the MKT and its general manager, Robert S. Stevens, and began buying large parcels of land north of Sherman to create an entirely new city for the railroad. The new townsite would get its name from George Denison, the Katy vice president who was in charge while then president, Levi Parsons, was out of the country on business. September 23, 1872, marked the first day of lot sales in the fledgling town; 31 lots were sold, for a total of $4,791. With the birth of Denison came a flood of people from all walks of life, and the town’s population increased to over 3,000 citizens within the first 100 days.

The Katy finally reached Denison on the blustery day of December 24, 1872, when the first train entered Texas from the north. The train, a heavily loaded construction locomotive driven by a young Pat Tobin, was meant to test the rail lines ahead of the official train, which was to enter on Christmas day.

The young settlement flourished. On March 7, 1873, Denison became an incorporated town by an act of the Texas Legislature. Buildings were erected with great ferocity; nearly every third establishment housed a saloon. However, Denison quickly tried to shed its untamed past so that it might become a cultural beacon for North Texas. This came about through acts such as establishing the first, free graded public school in Texas in October 1874, and through the construction of many houses of worship and prominent businesses. In time, Denison advanced to become one of the largest and wealthiest cities in North Texas. The first women’s club in Texas to have its own clubhouse, the XXI Club, began in 1890, and a formal post office was opened in 1886. The town continued to flourish and was able to attract the St. Louis, San Francisco & Texas and the Kansas, Oklahoma, & Gulf Railroads.

Denison’s most well-known event happened on October 14, 1890, when future president Dwight David Eisenhower was born in a small frame home on South Lamar Avenue near the railroad tracks. The first interurban electric line in Texas was run between Denison and Sherman in 1896, with the creation of Woodlake Park between the two cities.

The 20th century saw industrial and manufacturing plants open to provide an incredibly diverse economic base for the community. The White Swan food brand, the Denison Cotton Mill (the largest mill west of the Mississippi River when it was completed), and the Denison Mattress Company were a few of the big businesses that chose Denison as home.

The population surpassed 10,000 in 1900, and by the mid-1920s, the city boasted over 17,000 residents and 400 businesses. Perrin Air Force Base brought a huge increase in the population when it opened in 1941. It was the first basic flying training school put into operation following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Thousands passed through the training program at the air base until its closure on June 30, 1971.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, all attention was turned to the Denison Dam and the creation of Lake Texoma. This flood-control project quickly earned Denison the title of Playground of the Southwest and brought unparalleled tourism to the area. The city continued to prosper and, by 1966, had 26,000 residents and just fewer than 600 businesses.

The 1960s also saw the creation of Grayson County College at the city’s southwest boundary. A first in Denison’s history took place in 1984, when the Fighting Yellow Jacket football team won the Class 4-A state title, with a 27-13 win over Tomball. The Katy merged with Union Pacific in the late 1980s and closed all of its Denison operations in 1989. Although the closing of the railroad was quite a blow to the city and its population, Denisonians persevered and began a revitalization of the city that is still ongoing.

Main Street and the downtown core are once again the home of young professionals and young families, and the commercial district is witnessing a renaissance and the growth of many new businesses. Today, the city boasts a 30-block area of downtown that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and one of the first arts and cultural districts endorsed by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Advances in recent years include the creation of the Gateway Village, at the southern end of the city, with such anchors as Texoma Medical Center, Cigna, and the new Hilton Garden Inn. The area surrounding the village is poised for huge growth in retail, healthcare, residential use, and parks. The city has also made great advances in the north part of town, with the completion of the new Denison High School and surrounding facilities. With several hundred million dollars in investments in all areas of the city in the last two decades, Denison has taken the steps to see that it flourishes throughout the 21st century.

This book features nearly 200