City of Tom Bean

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it — and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, most Texas towns can point to a railroad and say that's where things got interesting. Tom Bean is no different — except Tom Bean has a name, and that name belongs to a man who never quite got to see what he started.

Thomas Bean was a wealthy landowner and surveyor out of Bonham. The man had land, he had vision, and at some point he made a decision that would outlast him by over a century. He donated fifty acres in southeast Grayson County — fifty acres — to be used for a branch railroad line running from Sherman down to Commerce.

That's a generous hand, and it was the kind of generosity that draws a town like a moth to a lantern. Bean died in 1887. And here's the thing — that same year, the city of Tom Bean was established.

He didn't live to see it bloom. But his name went up, and it stayed up. Nearby, there was a settlement called Whitemound.

The railroad bypassed Whitemound — didn't even slow down — and that town felt it immediately. By 1888, Whitemound's post office was gone, transferred over to Tom Bean's new city. Many of the Whitemound settlers picked up and followed.

When the railroad decides it's done with you, you tend to go where the railroad went. Bean's estate wasn't done dealing either. Come the 1890s, they started selling town lots surrounding the railroad.

The machinery of a real town was clicking into motion. In 1891, the city school outgrew its one-room structure and moved into a two-story building with an auditorium — which tells you something about how fast the population was arriving and how serious these folks were about putting down roots. Several Christian denominations established churches in town — the Church of Christ, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist — so Sunday mornings were well attended, you can be sure of that.

By 1897, Tom Bean had itself a city charter, and the first mayor was a man by the name of Ice B. Reeves. Ice B.

Reeves. That is a name that commands a room, and apparently it commanded a town. Then came the early days of the twentieth century, and Tom Bean boomed.

Within just a few years, this little railroad stop in Grayson County was boasting a grain company, a furniture company, a drugstore, a newspaper called the Tom Bean Bulletin, a saloon, a dance hall, a movie theater, and the Tom Bean Social Club. That is a full hand of cards, friends. You had commerce, you had culture, you had somewhere to be on a Saturday night.

But the railroad boomtown life has a way of not lasting forever. Automobile travel picked up — sharply — and cotton, which had been the principal crop driving the whole economy of the area, began its long decline. Businesses drifted toward the larger cities of Denison and Sherman, chasing the bigger traffic, the bigger market.

Tom Bean never quite returned to those rollicking early days. Still — and this is worth saying plainly — the town didn't fold. The community enjoyed a growth spurt in the 1950s, and in 1987, Tom Bean celebrated its centennial.

The city of Tom Bean continues to thrive. Thomas Bean donated fifty acres and died the year his city was born. A century later, folks were still celebrating.

Not every man gets to leave that kind of mark on the map — literally.

What the marker says

Thomas Bean, a wealthy Bonham landowner and surveyor, donated fifty acres of land in southeast Grayson County to be used for a branch railroad line from Sherman to Commerce. Bean died in 1887; in that year the city of Tom Bean was established. Nearby Whitemound, which was bypassed by the railroad, lost its post office to Tom Bean's city in 1888; many Whitemound settlers moved to the new town. Mr. Bean's estate began to sell town lots surrounding the railroad in the 1890s. The city school was moved in 1891 from a one-room structure to a two-story building with an auditorium. Several Christian denominations, including the Church of Christ, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist, established churches in town. The city charter was signed in 1897 and the first mayor was Ice B. Reeves. In the early days of the 20th century, the city boomed. Within a few years, it boasted a grain company, a furniture company, a drugstore, a newspaper called the "Tom Bean Bulletin," a saloon, a dance hall, a movie theater, and the Tom Bean Social Club. As time progressed, the sharp increase in automobile travel and transport, and the decline of cotton as the principal crop of the area, led businesses to the larger cities of Denison and Sherman. Though never again the railroad boomtown of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the community enjoyed a growth spurt in the 1950s, celebrating its centennial in 1987, the city of Tom Bean continues to thrive. (1998)