Site of Elm Saloon

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now picture McKinney, Texas, around 1883. T.O.

Bower owns a two-story frame building right here on this spot, and inside it, somebody's gone and opened a saloon. The Elm Saloon. Named (and the marker makes sure to tell you this) for a large elm tree standing right near the entrance.

Not every watering hole gets to claim a living, breathing landmark for a namesake, but this one did. Now, the place barely had its legs under it before things got interesting. An 1884 newspaper story (just one year in, mind you) reported that gunfighter Frank James was arrested for his involvement in a fight inside the Elm Saloon.

Frank James. Arrested. Right here.

The marker doesn't say how the fight started, and I'm not going to speculate, but I will say this: when a gunfighter gets himself arrested in your establishment inside the first year of business, you have earned a certain kind of reputation whether you wanted it or not. By 1892, the old two-story frame building had given way to a one-story stone structure. Sturdier.

More permanent. Like the place had decided to settle in and stay a while. And it had good reason to settle in; the Elm Saloon sat right next to McKinney's only railroad passenger depot.

Every traveler stepping off that train walked past this door. By the early 1900s it had become a full-on local landmark, going by a few different names depending on who you asked: the Elm Saloon, the Rock Front Saloon, or the Old Rock Saloon. Three names.

One stubborn building. One elm tree that started it all. Then, 1902.

The saloon closed. After roughly two decades of fights, famous arrests, passing trains, and changing names, the doors shut. The elm is gone.

The building is gone. But the marker's still here, which means the story isn't done yet; you're listening to it right now.

What the marker says

The Elm Saloon opened about 1883 in a 2-story frame building at this site owned by T.O. Bower. According to an 1884 newspaper story gunfighter Frank James was arrested for his involvement in a fight in the Elm Saloon. By 1892 the saloon, named for a large elm tree near its entrance, was housed in a one-story stone structure. The saloon was located next to McKinney's only railroad passenger depot and by the early 1900s had become a local landmark known variously as the Elm Saloon, Rock Front Saloon, and Old Rock Saloon. The saloon was closed in 1902. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995