Farmersville

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it: and it's quite a tale. Some towns pick fancy names. Some towns name themselves after rivers, or generals, or the dreams their founders carried west.

But the people who put down roots here in 1849, along the Jefferson-McKinney Road and near the old Republic of Texas National Road, they looked around at themselves and said: we are farmers. That's what we do. That's what we are.

And so Farmersville got its name, plain as the work that built it. Now, 1849 is just the beginning. The place had to grow into itself, and that takes people.

The Yearys and their neighbors over at Sugar Hill (that's two miles northeast) they started relocating here after 1854, bringing their families and their ambitions with them. And if you were going to build a real town, you needed somebody who could patch you up when things went wrong. By 1855, a Dr.

H.M. Markham was practicing right here, and the marker reckons he may have been the earliest physician in all of Collin County. The earliest.

In the whole county. The spirit of the place was already taking shape. The First Methodist Church was organized in 1856.

Then on March 4, 1859 (and you'll notice that date is precise, because land is serious business) a man named William Gotcher donated the ground for the public square. A school was running as early as the 1860s. And on May 14, 1865, the First Baptist Church was organized.

Institution by institution, donation by donation, Farmersville was becoming something. Then came June 2, 1873: incorporation. The town was official.

John S. Rike stepped in as the first mayor. The aldermen were James Church, Ben King, John Murchison, Tom Tatum, and John P.

Utt. And keeping the peace? That fell to Marshall Jeff Hines.

Five aldermen, one marshall, one mayor; a whole little government standing up straight. By the 1880s, the Farmersville Times was in print and the First National Bank was open for business. Both of them still operating when this marker was written.

That's the kind of staying power that earns its own paragraph. Now here's where the story gets a particular kind of flavor. Because Farmersville didn't just grow; it grew onions.

By the 1930s, this town had earned itself the title of Onion Capital of North Texas, shipping over a thousand carloads of onions every single year. A thousand carloads. Agriculture had always been the soul of this place, and the onion was its crown.

Cattle, cotton, and maize kept their place too, and some small industry came along for good measure. But there's one more name this town carries, and it carries it with weight. Before he entered the United States Army, before the world learned who he was, Audie Murphy was a resident of Farmersville.

He went on to become the most decorated American hero of World War II. The most decorated. He came from right here, from this town that named itself after the work of ordinary people; and he became anything but ordinary.

Farmersville. Started with a road and a name and a honest day's work. That turned out to be enough.

What the marker says

Originated 1849 as a settlement on the Jefferson-McKinney Road, and near Republic of Texas National Road. Named by pioneers for their chief occupation. After 1854, the Yearys and their neighbors of Sugar Hill (2 mi. NE) began relocating here. Dr. H.M. Markham, practicing here by 1855, is said to have been Collin County's earliest physician. The First Methodist Church was organized in 1856. William Gotcher on March 4, 1859, donated land for the public square. A school was operating as early as the 1860s. The First Baptist Church was organized on May 14, 1865. Town was incorporated on June 2, 1873. First mayor: John S. Rike. Aldermen: James Church, Ben King, John Murchison, Tom Tatum, John P. Utt. Marshall: Jeff Hines. Institutions of 1880s still in operation include Farmersville "Times" and the First National Bank. As town became a trade center, agriculture kept pace. Farmersville in 1930s was known as the "Onion Capital of North Texas", annually shipping over 1,000 carloads of onions. Along with some small industry, cattle, cotton, and maize crops remain important. Audie Murphy, the most decorated American hero of World War II, had been a resident of Farmersville before he entered the United States Army. (1973)