Pottsboro

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm gonna do my best by it. Way up in Grayson County, before a single Anglo settler had driven a stake into the ground, the Caddo and Wichita Indian tribes called this area home. That's your foundation.

Everything else gets built on top of it. Now, among those early Anglo settlers came a man named James G. Thompson, and Thompson had a daughter, Sarah Virginia.

Sarah Virginia had good taste in men, because she married one James A. Potts, born in 1838, a Confederate veteran, a rancher, and a land developer who rolled into Grayson County in 1868 with plans on his mind. Here's where it gets interesting.

The Civil War had thrown a long shadow across railroad construction all through Texas, a delay that stretched on and on. But by the late 1870s, the railroads were making up for lost time, laying lines through this very part of the state. James and Sarah Potts saw their moment.

In 1878, they deeded land for a right-of-way to the Denison and Pacific Railway, a subsidiary of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. And James Potts himself, the man, sat down and drew up the plat for the new railroad town that would carry his name. Within a decade, Pottsboro had homes, churches, general stores, grist mills, a cotton gin, a post office, a hotel and saloon, and a school.

The town incorporated on June 19, 1885. Now, fire is no friend to a young town, and Pottsboro learned that lesson hard. Major fires hit in 1892, then again in 1923, and once more in 1924.

Three times, the kind of damage that would make a lesser community pack up and leave. Three times, the citizens rebuilt. Then came the 1940s, and the United States government brought construction of Perrin Army Air Field and Lake Texoma, and with them came economic benefits that pushed the town forward again.

James A. Potts died in 1905, but the town bearing his name kept right on going, and it continues to play a vital role in the history of Grayson County to this day. Some legacies, it turns out, are built to last.

What the marker says

Caddo and Wichita Indian tribes occupied this area before Anglo settlement began in the 19th century. Among the early settlers was James G. Thompson, whose daughter, Sarah Virginia, married James A. Potts (1838-1905), a Confederate veteran, rancher, and land developer who moved to Grayson County in 1868. Recovering from a long construction delay caused by the Civil War, railroads began building lines through this area of Texas in the late 1870s. James and Sarah Potts deeded land for a right-of-way to the Denison and Pacific Railway, a subsidiary of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, in 1878. James Potts is credited with drawing up the plat for the new railroad town named in his honor. Within a decade Pottsboro boasted homes, churches, general stores, grist mills, a cotton gin, post office, hotel/saloon, and school. The town was incorporated on June 19, 1885. Pottsboro sustained serious damage from major fires in 1892, 1923, and 1924, but the citizens rebuilt and the town prospered. United States government construction of Perrin Army Air Field and Lake Texoma during the 1940s brought additional economic benefits to the town, which continues to play a vital role in the history of Grayson County.