DUANE
Duane's take
Now, this one comes straight from the official marker — let me tell you what it says about Grayson County. More than a century in the mainstream of Texas history. That's not a boast — that's just the record.
And it starts, as so many Texas stories do, at a river crossing. Back in 1837, Colonel Holland Coffee set up a trading post at the Preston Bend crossing of the Red River. A landmark structure, they call it, and you can imagine why — out there on the Red River, that kind of place was the beating pulse of commerce and movement for everyone passing through.
Then in 1842 it became a focal point for settlers of the Peters' colony, one of the important colonization efforts of the era. So before Grayson County even had a name, this ground was already doing serious work. The name came in 1846.
The 1st State Legislature carved the county out of part of Fannin County, and they named it for Peter W. Grayson — a man who had immigrated to Texas in 1830, served in the Texas Revolution, and held the office of attorney general in the Republic. That same year, 1846, the county was organized and Sherman was made the county seat.
Now here's a detail that makes you smile a little. That original townsite? It was five and a quarter miles west of where the marker stands.
They moved the whole thing to its present location in 1848. Towns did that back then — picked up and relocated like they'd just decided the view was better somewhere else. The town of Sherman, by the way, was named in honor of Colonel Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto.
A county named for one Texas patriot, a county seat named for another. They were not shy about their heroes in 1846. Now, what did Grayson County grow into?
Something remarkable, apparently. The place became known — actually known — as the Athens of Texas. That's a title earned by superior schools in the 19th century, and by having had at least five courthouses, which tells you something about a county that kept outgrowing its own ambitions.
In 1858 the famous Butterfield Trail crossed the county. And in that same period and beyond, cattle trails and early railroads came through too, one after another, crisscrossing the land like the county was a hub everything had to pass through. And then the modern era brought its own landmark.
Lake Texoma — created between 1939 and 1944 — is today a county-approved tourist attraction, a body of water that draws people in rather than just letting them pass through. By 1967, the Sherman-Denison region had been named a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. From Colonel Coffee's trading post on the Red River to a metro statistical area — more than a century in the mainstream, just like it says.
Grayson County didn't just sit beside Texas history. It was right in it.
What the marker says
In the mainstream of Texas history for more than a century, this area was, in 1837, the site of Colonel Holland Coffee's Trading Post, a landmark structure at the Preston Bend crossing of the Red River. It was a focal point, beginning in 1842, for settlers of the important Peters' colony. In 1846 the county was created from part of Fannin County by the 1st State Legislature. It was named for Peter W. Grayson, who immigrated to Texas in 1830, served in the Texas revolution, and was attorney general in the Republic. Also in 1846 the county was organized and Sherman was made county seat. The original townsite was 5-1/4 mi. W of here. It was moved to its present location, 1848. Honoree of the town name was Colonel Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. The place is distinguished for having had at least five courthouses and for its superior schools of the 19th century. It was once known as the "Athens of Texas." In 1858 the famous Butterfield Trail crossed the county and in the same period and later, a number of cattle trails and early railroads traversed the area. Today Lake Texoma, created 1939-1944, is a county approved tourist attraction. The Sherman-Denison region was named a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, 1967. Incise on back: Erected by Grayson County Historical Survey Committee.