City of Crandall

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker, so let's talk about how a town got its name, its railroad, and its start. Now, the Rev. C.

F. Crandall was a Methodist minister out of Indiana. Born in 1827.

He made his way to this part of Texas in 1877, and he didn't come just to preach; he bought eighteen hundred acres of land. That's not a man dipping his toe in the water. That's a man planting both boots.

Then 1880 rolls around, and the Texas Trunk Line Railroad is building east out of Dallas. Here's where the reverend shows you what he's made of. He gave a bonus to bring that rail service right through.

A minister, negotiating with a railroad. And it worked. When the post office was created in 1881, who do you think became the first postmaster?

The very same man. The town grew up around that kind of foundation. The Baptists built a church.

The Disciples of Christ built a church. The Methodists, well, you can guess they built one too. The townsite plat was officially recorded in 1889, and by 1901 the city had itself a school system.

And then the early nineteen hundreds brought everything a growing town could want: a lumber yard, several stores, three physicians, and three banks. Three banks. In a town that started as one man's eighteen hundred acres.

Rev. C. F.

Crandall lived until 1906. Long enough to see just about all of it come to pass. The town still stands today as a center for agriculture and recreation, built on a preacher's land, a railroad bonus, and the nerve to believe a place could become something.

What the marker says

Named for The Rev. C. F. Crandall (1827-1906), Methodist minister who came here from Indiana, 1877, and bought 1800 acres of land. When Texas Trunk Line Railroad built east from Dallas in 1880, he gave bonus for rail service and was first postmaster when post office was created in 1881. Baptists, Disciples of Christ, and Methodists built churches. Townsite plat was recorded in 1889. The city school system was established in 1901. By the early 1900s, town had a lumber yard, several stores, 3 physicians, 3 banks. It remains a center for agriculture and recreation. (1971)