Allen

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's a story worth telling right. Fertile land and plentiful water. That's what pulled settlers into this stretch of Collin County as far back as the 1840s.

By 1876, the land around here was already well populated — and that's right when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad came through and changed everything. The railroad built a water supply stop on Cottonwood Creek, right near this site. And wherever the railroad stopped, a town wasn't far behind.

The Houston and Texas Central filed the documents to create the town of Allen that same year, 1876 — carved out of the James L. Read survey. They named it for Ebenezer Allen, a former attorney general of both the Republic and the State of Texas, and one of the founders of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad itself.

The man the town was named after had a hand in building the very line that put it on the map. Those new town lots gave local farmers and their families a center of commerce, better equipment, broader markets. The open prairie started filling in with small family farms.

And the town moved fast — a dry goods store, a barber shop, a school, all opening up in short order. Now. February 22, 1878.

That date is where things get interesting. Sam Bass — and the marker says reportedly, so we'll give history its qualifier — Sam Bass reportedly led an outlaw gang that robbed the Allen Depot on that day. And this, the marker tells us, was probably the first successful train robbery in Texas.

The whole state of Texas, and it happened right here at a water stop that was barely two years old. You can't make that up. But Allen kept right on going.

By 1884 the town had three churches, a flour mill, and 350 people calling it home. Then in 1908, the Texas Traction Company rolled through and built an electric railway — the Interurban, they called it. By 1915, the population had climbed to 550.

The Interurban ran until 1948, when electric railway service ended — though railway freight service kept right on going. Allen was incorporated in 1953 with 400 residents. And then the Dallas-Fort Worth area started its long boom, and Allen caught the wave.

By the 1990s, more than 19,000 people called this place home. From a water stop on Cottonwood Creek to a city of nineteen thousand. That's not a small story.

That's Allen, Texas — and the marker's been standing here since 1998 to make sure you know it.

What the marker says

Fertile land and plentiful water drew settlers to this area from as early as the 1840s. This part of Collin County was well populated by 1876 when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a water supply stop on Cottonwood Creek near this site. The railroad stop and newly created town lots established a center of commerce for local farmers and their families and provided better equipment and broader markets for agricultural production. The surrounding open prairie soon was developed into small family farms. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad filed documents to create the town of Allen from the James L. Read survey in 1876. The village was named for Ebenezer Allen, a former Republic and State of Texas attorney general and a founder of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. A dry goods store, barber shop, and school soon opened in the rapidly growing town. Sam Bass reportedly led an outlaw gang that robbed the Allen Depot on February 22, 1878. This was probably the first successful train robbery in Texas. By 1884 the town of Allen had three churches, a flour mill, and a population of 350. In 1908 the Texas Traction Company built an electric railway through town, calling it the Interurban. The citizenry numbered 550 by 1915. Allen was incorporated in 1953 with 400 residents. Electric railway service ended in 1948 but railway freight service continued. Strong economic growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area helped the town's population grow to include more than 19,000 citizens in the 1990s. (1998)