DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Old Settlers Park in Collin County. Now, if you want to talk about a piece of ground that has earned its keep, pull up a chair and let me tell you about this place. It starts in 1858 — before the Civil War had torn anything apart yet — when this land first housed a Collin County Fair.
And they kept at it, year after year, usually come autumn, except when the Civil War years swallowed up just about everything else worth celebrating. But the fair came back, the way good things in Texas tend to do. Then in 1883, a new outfit entered the picture: the Ex-Confederate–Old Settlers Picnic Association.
They set up their annual picnic right across the street from what folks were already calling the old fair grounds. They kept meeting on this site, and eventually they did what Texans do when they find a patch of ground they love — they bought it. First parcel in 1912, another in 1924.
Now, the County Fair itself was something to behold. Agriculture, livestock, handicrafts, culinary delights — a full showcase of what Collin County could grow, raise, sew, and cook. And out at the grandstand, there were riding competitions.
The marker says it is said that Frank James once won first prize there. Not alleged, not rumored — said. You can do with that what you like.
The picnics, though — those grew into something remarkable on their own. In the nineteen-tens and nineteen-twenties, as many as fifteen thousand people a day would come through. Fifteen thousand.
Many of them camped right around the park. Political speakers filled the schedule from sunup to sundown. There were three-legged races.
There was storytelling — which, if you think about it, is exactly the right contest for a gathering like this. In the early years, they had balloon ascensions floating up over the crowd. Later on, an air show came along and astonished folks in a whole new way.
Like the fair, the picnic ran its own midway — rides, games, the whole affair. But here's where the story quiets down and asks you to sit with it a moment. The last picnic was held in 1941.
The reason? The last Confederate veterans in Collin County were too old to attend. That's how it ended — not with a fight, not with a decision, just with time doing what time does.
The County Fair held on a little longer, running its last edition in 1965. But the park? The park is still there.
Still serving the community, now as part of the McKinney Parks and Recreation Department. More than a century of fairs and picnics and balloon ascensions and contested storytelling, and the ground itself just keeps showing up. Some places are like that.
What the marker says
Site of all Collin County Fairs and Ex-Confederate - Old Settlers picnics, this land first housed a fair in 1858. The fair was held each year, usually in autumn, except during the Civil War years. In 1883, the Ex-Confederate-Old Settlers Picnic Association began to hold their annual picnic across the street from "the old fair grounds." They continued to meet on this site, buying the land for themselves in 1912 and 1924. The County Fair was a showcase for agriculture, livestock, handicrafts, and culinary delights. Riding competitions were held in the grandstand; it is said that Frank James once won first prize. As many as 15,000 people a day visited the picnics in the 1910s and 1920s, many camping around the park. Political speakers were scheduled all day, and contests included three-legged races and storytelling. In early years there were balloon ascensions; later, an air show astonished the crowds. Like the fair, the picnic featured a midway of rides and games. The last picnic was held in 1941, when the last Confederate veterans in Collin County were too old to attend. The last County Fair was held in 1965, but the park continues to serve the community as a part of the McKinney Parks and Recreation Department. (1997)