DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it along to you. Somewhere out here, before any of this was roads and runways and reservoir shoreline, there were just vines. Wild mustang grapes, growin so thick and so profuse across this land that the place couldn't help but take their name.
Grapevine. That's where you are right now, and that's where this story begins. The first settlers came in 1845 — Ambrose Foster, born around 1794, and his wife Susannah Medlin Foster, born in 1796, making the long pull down from Platte County, Missouri.
They brought their daughters and their sons-in-law with them, and together that family acquired the land that would become the very heart of this community. Now think about that. One family, one year, one stretch of grape-tangled Texas prairie — and they planted themselves like they meant to stay.
Within that first year, they were already holding worship services and running school classes. Didn't waste any time. Before the Civil War, cattle raising was the major enterprise out here.
Beef cattle were sold to Camp Worth — the place we now call Fort Worth — by Archibald Leonard, one of those Foster sons-in-law, who also ran a mercantile store. So the Fosters weren't just puttin down roots; they were buildin an economy. Then in 1858, a Federal Post Office came to town, and a man named Solon Dunn ran it.
Now here's the wry part — Dunn apparently made himself so essential to the place that by the 1870s, folks had taken to callin the village Dunnville. A whole town named after the postmaster. Not the worst legacy a man could leave.
That name held on for a while too, but eventually the old name won out. In 1914, it became Grapevine again, officially, the way the mustang vines always intended. But back up a bit, because 1888 is a year worth pausin on.
The Cotton Belt Railroad line opened, and when the railroad comes to town, the town changes. Grapevine became a shipping center — cotton, grain, truck crops, dairy products rolling out on those tracks. It thrived.
And in 1907, the town incorporated, making it official in the eyes of the law. By 1934, two major paved roads had been constructed, one leadin toward Dallas, one toward Fort Worth, stitching Grapevine into the growing web of North Texas. Then in 1942, a dam was built on Denton Creek, and that dam formed Lake Grapevine — a water supply, a flood control measure, and a place for folks to get out on the water.
And then — well, you might have noticed something on your way into town. In 1974, the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport opened within the city limits. One family, one year, one tangle of wild mustang grapes in 1845.
A hundred and twenty-nine years later, the whole world was landing right there on Grapevine's doorstep. The vines didn't know what they were startin.
What the marker says
Wild mustang grapes growing profusely in this area inspired the name "Grapevine" for this community. Ambrose Foster (1794?-1847) and his wife Susannah Medlin (1796-1876) were among the first settlers in 1845, from Platte County, Missouri. The Fosters, their daughters and sons-in-law acquired land that became the heart of Grapevine. Within the first year worship services and school classes were conducted. Cattle raising was the major enterprise prior to the Civil War. Beef cattle were sold to Camp Worth (present Fort Worth) by Archibald Leonard, Fosters' son-in-law, who owned a mercantile store. In 1858 a Federal Post Office was established and run by Solon Dunn. During the 1870s the village was also known as "Dunnville". In 1914 the name became "Grapevine". After the Cotton Belt Railroad line opened in 1888, the town thrived as a shipping center for cotton, grain, truck crops and dairy products. In 1907 Grapevine incorporated. By 1934 two major paved roads leading to Dallas and Fort Worth were constructed. A dam built in 1942 on Denton Creek formed Lake Grapevine. It serves as a water supply, flood control measure, and a recreational area. In 1974 the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport opened within the city limits. (1979)