Grayson County TXGenWeb

Denison Herald
April 20, 1986

READER RECALLS SOUP LINES
by Robert B. Marcum, Sr.
Denison

I remember the depression, the soup lines, WPA, the Triple C. Camp, and the old highway that was really just a muddy road between Denison and Sherman. It was not called "75" then. There were 3 roads between Denison and Sherman. One was the Loy Lake Road; the Frisco Road out of Sherman and one road that ran in between. My grandmother called them the old names, such as the "60", the "90", and the "120" foot roads.
I remember Denison when there was the Lamar Street Hotel on South Lamar, and when the healthy mineral water came out of the ground, and it cured people's arthritis and crippling ailments. It was eventually plugged.
The Sand Spring running 24 hours a day and people from distant miles having water from it in their homes.
I remember when Loy Lake was not there, and full blood Indians lived the area. I remember Sugar Bottom in Denison and how it got it's name, and the old interurban coach operating down Main Street to the Cotton Mill, and on to Sherman and Dallas. You could ride for 10c to 25c.
I remember before Perrin Air Force Base was created and before Denison Dam, and the fact that they used German prisoners of war as laborers. I also worked on the project there as a young worker.
I remember the Denison Hotel at its best, and when there was a store like Kress that stayed open until 9 p.m. every night and restaurants were open all night. Everything was booming in Denison 24 hours a day. There were 5 walk-in theaters, 5 or 6 taxi cab companies and the Katy Railroad was booming. So many people got off the train you couldn't walk down Main Street, it was so crowded with people. Denison was a farming comm unity as well as the Katy Railroad business.
I remember the old hitching ground on the corner of Houston and Woodard Streets, where the farms sold and traded their wares.
I remember the following places: The Saratoga Cafe, the White Swan Cafe, Doc's Drug, Penn Drug, Mary's Cafe, Street Can Cafe, pool halls, and many more.
You could buy a cup of coffee or a pop for 5c, a hamburger for 10c, and a good full dinner for 65c. Everything was cheap. Wages were cheap, but you could buy more for less than you can now. There was 1 police patrol car, one motorcycle cop and a night watchman, but there was no crime or violence then.