History
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.
History
Mantua
On Februrary 23, 1854, William C. McKinney, James W. Throckmorton, John A. Throckmorton, and Joseph Wilcox set aside twenty-five acres for the town of Mantua, which was conceived as a site for Mantua Seminary. Proceeds from the sale of town lots provided funds for the school. The town plat consisted of forty-eight city blocks surrounding a town square.
History
Mathews General Store
This was one of several brick buildings erected on Mechanic Street after an October 1895 fire. S. J. And Nancy Mathews came to Plano in 1893 and opened a store across the street before relocating here in 1906. Mathews Department Store sold dry goods and clothing, including millinery made by Nancy and her daughters, until 1947. The building continued as a department store and then other businesses.
History
McKinney
Founded 1845 by Collin McKinney, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. In Civil War, Gen. J.W. Throckmorton (later a governor of Texas) organized McKinney's Co.K, 6th Texas Cavalry, an outstanding confederate fighting unit. Manufacturing, trade and hospital center. 1963
History
McLarry Cemetery
This site was first used as a cemetery in 1851 when property owner John R. Jones buried his infant son here. The land was later donated as a public burial ground for the pioneer settlers of the surrounding Wilmeth settlement by Mary Virginia Dunn McLarry and her father Robert A. McLarry. The earliest marked graves are those of a brother and sister, Henry E. and Adella M. Hall, who died in 1870.
History
Melissa Christian Church
This congregation traces its origin to religious gatherings in a local schoolhouse as early as 1868. The church's first sanctuary, built near this site in 1878, was destroyed by a tornado in 1921 and replaced by this structure in 1924. Local contractor W.N. Osburn supervised church volunteers in its construction.
History
Melissa School
The first schoolhouse to serve the residents of Melissa was constructed on land acquired in 1882 by trustees James Graves, John Gibson and George Fitzhugh, pioneer area settlers. Since the deed stated the property was to be used "forever exclusively, for educational and religious purposes", the one-room schoolhouse was the site of community worship services on Sundays.
History
Millwood and Millwood Cemetery
Named for a lumber mill established nearby about 1846, Millwood contained a post office, several businesses, and lumber, grist, and flour mills by the early 1850s. Although Willie O. Hunt's burial in 1864 is the first recorded here, local tradition claims this cemetery began in 1854 with the death of Nancy Bulloch, wife of James W. Bulloch, hero of the Battle of Nacogdoches.
History
Muncey Massacre
McBain Jameson and Jeremiah Muncey settled in this vicinity in 1840 and 1842. While hunting in late 1844, William Rice and Leonard Searcy came to Muncey's hut and found the savagely slain bodies of Jameson, Muncey, Mrs. Muncey, and a small child, and recognized signs of an Indian raid. The men sped out to their own sons, who were hunting nearby.
History
Murphy Community
Murphy was primarily an agricultural community from 1880-1970. Murphy thrived in farming and ranching because of its location in the Blackland Prairie which was covered with tall grasses, black fertile soil and abundant rainfall. The first settlers to Murphy in the early 1840s originated from Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, North and South Carolina and Virginia.
History
Murphy Family Cemetery
The Murphy Family Cemetery has been identified with the Murphy Community since William A. Murphy (1816-1909) set aside land for a private family cemetery in 1872 when his sister, Susan Emberton, died. The cemetery is also known as the William Andrew Murphy Cemetery or Mouldon Cemetery.
History
Nelson Hotel
Early Celina settler Richard Tinsley Peterman built this structure in 1914, twelve years after the town moved from its original site (1 mile south) to the railroad line. The building originally housed a grocery store on the ground floor and rental space on the second floor. Charlie Spergon Nelson, who moved his family to Celina in 1917, bought the property in 1922.
History
Nevada
Located in southeast Collin County, the settlement of Nevada was on its way to becoming a booming commercial city until a disastrous tornado swept the town in 1927. In 1835, John McMinn, who received a land grant for 1600 acres, moved his family to what was later known as the McMinn Chapel community, four miles north of the present-day site of Nevada.
History
Old Celina Cemetery
The town of Celina, settled by natives of Celina, Tennessee, was founded near this site in 1870. The oldest grave here is that of a child who died in 1884. W.J. Bounds (1830-1886) donated the land as a community cemetery after the death of Elizabeth McWhorter on Feb. 298, 1885. In 1900 residents of Celina began to relocate their homes and businesses along the railroad (2.5 mi. ne).
History
Old Collin County Courthouse
Collin County was created from Fannin County in 1846. It was named for pioneer area settler Collin McKinney (1766-1861), a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The first county seat was established at Buckner (2 mi. NW). In 1848 William and Margaret Davis conveyed 120 acres of land at this site for a more central seat of government, which became the community of McKinney.
History
Pecan Grove Memorial Park
This park is situated on property granted by the Republic of Texas to Samuel McFarland in 1845, only four years after the first permanent settlement in this area was begun by a pioneer from Tennessee, Dr. William E. Throckmorton (1795-1843), and his family. By the 1850s, when the first known burials occurred, R.A. Davis owned the land.
History
Plano Cemetery
This graveyard was part of the Peters Colony land grant of Joseph Klepper (d. 1884). He immigrated to Collin county from Illinois about 1845. The burial site contains graves of five Peters colonists, their families, and other early settlers. Through the years many prominent Plano citizens both white and black were interred here. Later it served as the only black burial ground for the community.
History
Plano High School and Gymnasium
The Plano Institute opened on this site in 1882 before a public school system existed in Plano. In 1891, city officials bought the school and took over operations. Later schools built here included one in 1924 which became the core of the current structure. The federal government added the gymnasium as a Works Progress Administration project in 1938.
History
Plano Mutual Cemetery
Among the earliest graveyards in Collin county, this cemetery traces its beginnings to 1852 when Dr. Lillie was buried on land belonging to his uncle William Forman. A Kentucky native, Forman came to Texas about 1850 and bought 640 acres in 1851 from Sanford Beck. Lillie's death prompted a meeting of pioneer settlers to decide the location of a graveyard.
Architecture
Plano National Bank/I.O.O.F. Lodge Building
After a building they shared was destroyed by fire in 1895, the Plano National Bank (est. 1887) and the I.O.O.F. (Odd Fellows) Lodge (est. 1870) erected this commercial building here in 1896. In 1936 the structure was redesigned by architect/builder Abe Cain with art deco detailing. The building was remodeled in 1958 but a 1980s restoration project returned it to its 1936 art deco appearance.
History
Pleasant Grove Cemetery
Malissa (Dodson) Sides became the first person to be buried on this site in March 1891. Believed to have been half Native American, Mrs. Sides and her Cherokee half sister Ellen Murphy survived the U. S. government relocation of the tribe during their youth. The pair came to Collin County from Indian Territory with Malissa's husband Henry L. Sides.
History
Prairie Grove Cemetery
The Prairie Grove Cemetery served residents of the Aleo community from the late 1800s until the middle of the 20th century. The burial ground has ties to the Prairie Grove Baptist Church, which set aside land to be used for burials. The oldest known grave in the cemetery dates to 1895. World War II hero Audie Murphy lived in the area for a time, and his mother and grandparents are buried here.
History
Prosper
Prosper grew from two early settlements, Rock Hill and Richland. When the St. Louis, San Francisco and Texas Railroad bypassed the two communities, the new town of Prosper, founded in 1902, became the center of commercial activity. The town grew steadily in its early years, primarily as a shipping center for surrounding farms.
History
Public Education in Anna
The earliest citizens of Anna were determined that their children should have the best educational opportunities possible. Founded in 1883 with a population of twenty, Anna was named for the daughter of a Houston & Texas Central Railroad official. In 1885, the town sought and was granted Collin County School District Number 23. Former teacher and future mayor J.L. Greer deeded a 2.
History
Routh Cemetery
Brothers Jacob, George Washington, Joseph and Thomas Jefferson Routh, and their sister Elizabeth Routh Thomas, were cousins of the Vance Family which held the original land grant that encompassed this site. Jacob Routh (1818-1879), a Baptist minister, acquired the 440-acre J. V. Vance survey in 1851, and brought his mother and other relatives from Tennessee to Texas.
Elsewhere in Texas
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