The Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, January 1, 1893 pg. 1 DENISON ONE YEAR OLD The following historical sketch of Denison appeared in the Denison Morning News, September 1873, and was from the pen of Mr. H. Tone: One year ago the City of Denison was in a chaotic, unorganized state, a thing wholly of the future. All told, there were perhaps 50 men who had gathered upon the town site, and along the little rise which now marked the alley between Owings and Morgan streets had erected booths, tents, and, in half a dozen cases, temporary box-houses, in which they had already commended business. Here, in a single row, were Brown with his bakery, McGrevy with his miscellaneous stocks, Edelstein & McCabe and Collin, with liquors; Dr. Johnson with drugs, and Kelly with his tin-shop. Here was Cutler with his printing office, from which had already issued 2 numbers of the "Red River Journal," which, with its title printed in a sort of a brick-colored ink, insured that part of his paper, at least, being "red." Here too, was Gov. Owings, the man who had the honor of being Denison's first mayor, and who had gathered, even at that early day, a dozen scrub ponies, the nucleus of his present commodious stables. Other than these few primitive improvements, there was not a board or a stone to mark the present city of Denison. Main street was part of a rough pasture covered with brush; Skiddy street was a ravine, from which the undergrowth had never been cut, while Woodard, Gandy and Sears streets were unbroken forest. RED RIVER CITY By common consent, the new town that was to be, had been christened, "Red River City," and by this name it was known through a dozen states, even before the site had been chosen. The announcement that the name had been changed and the infant re-christened Denison, was received here with many misgivings and dire predictions. It was argued that Red River City was known over the whole country and its future already assured, while Denison was altogether unknown. Protests were made and threats of abandonment were freely uttered, but all of no avail. The powers that be were inexorable. Denison was the name provided and Denison it must be, though every man abandoned it, and a dozen Red River cities sprang up in the vicinity. SHERMAN JEALOUS From the outset, the enmity and opposition of Sherman had been bitter in the extreme. The enterprise was belittled and derided, both by the people and the public press. They went out of their way to abuse us, and used whole columns of their papers in proving that the town did not, and could not amount to anything. They declared that the title to all these lands was in dispute, and the Town Company's claim good for nothing; that the M. K. & T. Railway was a bankrupt corporation, whose aid and influence could never build a town; and finally, that it had no charter and could never enter the State of Texas. HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS Even on the day of sale, not less than a 100 men were leaning idly upon their shovels between this place and the river, restrained from working by an order from the district court, which denied the M., K & T. Railway the right to build a road through their own lands, when theirs had been the first line surveyed, and the stakes afterwards pulled up by a rival corporation. Further than this, a combination had been formed among the first settlers, right here at home, by which they proposed to prevent the lots being sold at anything more than mere normal prices. On the whole the situation on the morning of the 23d of September, was anything but hopeful to the Town company, and it was with fearful misgivings that they rode out upon the ground to begin the sale. SALE OF THE FIRST LOTS But in spite of these adverse circumstances a goodly number of people were in attendance, and the bidding was spirited. The first lot offered was that on the southwest corner of Main street and Austin avenue, and the first bid was $100 made by J.Q.A. Carter. From this it went up by tens and fives until finally struck off to S.A. Cook at $250. T he home conspirators looked at one another in dumb amazement and retired from the field, while the crowd seemed to gain reassurance from their own bidding. The second lot offered was the opposite corner, now occupied by Sauer's grocery, and this was sold to W.H. Hull at $300, the highest price paid during the day. In all 31 lots were disposed of at an average cost of $155 each. THE BUILDING MANIA The sale over, business began in earnest. In less than 2 hours, work had begun upon Muller's grocery building, which was, as it purports to be, the "Pioneer." Two days after the Nelson House was located, and buildings were put up in rapid succession by Hull, Trail, Goodman, Clark & Tallant, Dinsmore, Mosely and McGrevy, White, Gnase and Guy, and Cutler, and Cannon, and Chamberlain, and Nevins, and Farmer made it equally lively on Crawford street. OBSTACLES TO CONTEND WITH It must be remembered that building in those days was a much more serious undertaking than at present. The rough pine lumber of which the first houses were constructed, had all to be hauled from the eastern pineries, 120 miles away, or from Atoka; the then terminus railroad, half as far in another direction. The appearance of a load of lumber upon the streets, or rather upon the ground for streets, there were..., was the signal for a general rush, and before the bewildered teamster could more than name his price it was taken, and he left cursing his luck that he didn't charge half a dollar more. The little mills within a circuit of 15 miles were besieged with customers night and day who stood ready to quarrel for the possession of each individual board, as it fell from the log. "ROUGHING IT" Those who were here in the early days will bear us out in the statement that our style of life was primitive in the extreme. Men slept in tents, in wagons, in sheds and upon the ground. Their toilet consisted of a wash, frequently a dry one, and a running of fingers through the hair, and their house was set in order by rolling up the blanket upon which they had slept. If, as was often the case, they had no blanket, they had but to rise from the ground and shake themselves, when they were ready for the business of the day. Our meals were taken at restaurants; when one person had no sooner risen from the bench than another took his place, the plate was hastily wiped upon a dirty towel, and the meal went on as before. The same bill of fare was served up with unvarying regularity morning, noon and night. It consisted of bread without butter, coffee without milk and beef stake [sic], which had to be fished out of the fat in which it was swimming. In the midst of all, however, the greatest good feeling prevailed. Men jostled against each other without friction, and all grew hearty and jovial while roughing it. RAPID GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT And all the time the wonderful growth of the town went on, and the more its facilities in creased the faster went on the work of improvement. Tents and wagons were succeeded by houses, benches and dry goods boxes by chairs, and blankets by mattresses, sheets and pillows. What had at first seemed isolated buildings, erected apparently without order of design, developed into regularly defined and well filled streets, while tasty residences began to appear among the trees and dot the surrounding fields. Each day saw some new building completed, some new stock opened to the public. It must not be inferred, however, that our population in those days, any more than at present, was composed wholly of moral and virtuous people, or that all business legitimate. Concert halls and houses of ill-repute increased and multiplied, and keno and taro were well represented and patronized. Yet unorganized, unpolarized and unguarded as was the young city the best of order prevailed, its very helplessness proving its strongest safeguard. THE WONDERFUL CHANGE IN A YEAR From this picture of a y ear ago, let us turn to that of to-day and see what a wonderful change a year has produced. A census of the city, carefully taken within the last 10 days, reveals the following facts: There are in Denison of actual residents, 3952 people, and there are within the city limits, completed and occupied, 451 wooden and 18 brick and stone buildings, not one of which was built a year ago. There are in operation, 9 hotels, 5 dry goods and clothing houses, 8 general stores, 11 groceries, 1 daily and 3 weekly newspapers, 1 shoe store, 5 liquor houses, 5 drug stores, 4 dealers in hardware and tin, 1 furniture store, 3 harness shops, 2 book and news stores, 4 jewelers, 5 barber shops, 5 bakeries, 6 meat markets, 2 auction houses, 20 saloons, 3 liveries, 3 lumber yards, 6 brick yards, 2 confectioneries, 6 shoe shops, 4 tailor shops, 2 tobacconists, 5 restaurants, 1 gun store, and 2 photograph galleries. Two churches have been completed, the foundation is laid for the third, and 3 schools are in successful operation. WORTHY OF SPECIAL MENTION In this list we have omitted, as worthy of more special mention, the Lone Star Mills, erected at a cost of $40,000, and is now turning out flour at the rate of 150 barrels, daily; the first national bank, the only one within a circuit of 200 miles, the passenger and freight depots, the best, not only in the state, but even west of St. Louis; the Arctic Ice Company, whose mammoth reservoir has veins extending as far as Austin; the Refrigerator Car Company, now erecting immense slaughter-houses and inaugurating a new era in the cattle trade; the elegant school building, now under process of erection, and which, when completed, will be second to none in the state. What a record for a single year, and where in the annals of the country do we find it s parallel? WHAT IS THE SECRET? The question may be asked, what is the secret of this gathering of capital and people, this lavish expenditure of means upon what was a year ago an open field and woodland, when a town ready laid out and with aspiration equal to a London or a Paris lay within 9 miles of us? The answer is easily told. Denison is the one point through which everything and everybody must pass to get into or out of northern Texas. It is the dividing line between St. Louis and Galveston. It is the terminus of 2 of the greatest railway lines west of the Mississippi. Its competition makes it the best cattle and cotton market in northern Texas and as a consequence the best point for selling goods, both wholesale and retail. Its facilities for manufacturing are not excelled by any city in the country. Immense undeveloped coal fields lie all around us; inexhaustible quarries of the very best building stone are found within the city limits, and also the best of brick material as is proven by almost daily shipments of manufactured brick to points south of us. Nor are these all our advantages. Our forests, furnishing ample shade in which to build hundreds of beautiful residences; our abundant supply of water, pronounced by the state geologist the best yet found in Texas; our healthful location upon the highest point of land in the country, and utterly free from malaria; our society second to none as is shown by progress and liberality in church and school matters, all point to Denison as a place equally as desirable for residence as it has proven itself for business. Denison History Copyright © 2024, TXGenWeb. If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |