Whitesboro

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Whitesboro, up there in Grayson County. Now, every good Texas town has a founding moment, and Whitesboro's goes back to 1848, when a man named Ambrose B. White came rolling through on his way west from Illinois.

He camped here. That's it. He just camped here.

But sometimes a good campsite has a way of sticking with a man, because White didn't forget this place. Settlers started moving to the site, and before long something was taking root on the Texas prairie. White set up an inn, and when the Butterfield Stage route came through after 1858, that inn was right on it.

You want to talk about being in the right place at the right time, well, there's your exhibit A. The post office opened in 1860, and they named it for White. Then in 1869, White and a man named Dr.

W. H. Trolinger got together and formally surveyed the townsite.

Trolinger, born in 1827, wasn't just a surveying partner either. He donated the land for a park. When Whitesboro incorporated in 1873, the town turned right around and elected Ambrose B.

White its first mayor. The man who'd camped here on a westward journey became the man running the place. Then the railroads came calling.

The Denison and Pacific Railroad arrived in 1879, and that line later became part of the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas. The Texas and Pacific pulled in two years after that, in 1881. Two railroads.

A town that started as a campfire and a good night's sleep had become a stop on the map that iron and steam agreed was worth the trip. Today the area runs on recreational facilities and peanut production, which is about as honest and Texas a combination as you're ever going to find. Ambrose White rode west looking for somewhere to go, and it turns out he'd already found it.

What the marker says

Settlers moved to this site after Ambrose B. White (1811-83) camped here on his way west from Illinois in 1848. His inn here was on the Butterfield Stage route after 1858. The post office, opened in 1860, was named for White, who surveyed (1869) the townsite with Dr. W. H. Trolinger (1827-95), donor of land for a park. When Whitesboro incorporated in 1873, White was elected its first mayor. The Denison & Pacific Railroad, later part of the Missouri, Kansas, & Texas, arrived in 1879; the Texas & Pacific in 1881. Today the area's economy is based on recreational facilities and peanut production.