Grayson County TXGenWeb

A half-century after the first Denison Gate came home from the exposition in New Orleans, a second one was erected north of town on Hwy 75 in 1936. Built for the Texas Centennial, it was the work of local painter/artist Ted Schirmer. Mr. Schirmer was born in Cibola, Texas but received his education in Denison schools and studied art under artists such as Frank Klepper, and Xavier Gonzales as well as others connected with Federal Art School. He died in 1953 and is buried in Cedarlawn Cemetery, Sherman, Texas.

"The Chamber pledged $300 of the estimated $1,000 for the erection of the sign and six merchants, Oliver Hayes, F.O. Babcock, Phillip Witz, A.P. Linn, W.J. Rawlins and R.L. Reeves, canvassed the business district for additional pledges. Landscaping was done in colors by Ted Schirmer a local artist. In the center of the sign were two gates swinging open. It was located just a short distance south of the welcome sign at the State Highway Department hostess cottage where A&M students were to give out-of-state visitors important information on Texas."

In May 1936 a newspaper notice stated the huge "Welcome" sign on the Denison-Durant highway would be completed by mid-May. "The Gateway to Texas sign was prepared to welcome visitors to Texas at that time on Hwy. 75 North as a project of local artist, Ted Schirmer."

Within a week, the Dallas Morning News published a description of the completed sign.

"The sign was to be erected one mile south of the then new free bridge over Red River, on a curve that was visible by anyone crossing the river. The sign was 125 feet long by 28 feet high, with letters from 13 to 16 feet wide and seven feet high saying "Denison, Gate City to Texas."

As mentioned in The Dallas Morning News, the State Highway Department's "hostess cottage" was a short distance south of the sign and Texas Aggies were recruited to staff it.

Caption reads: Denison, Texas, June 20 - Unifored attendants from Texas A. & M. College are busy night and day at the State Highway Department's hostess house a mile north of Denison, telling out-of-State visitors about Texas and its Centennial. The attractive house evokes much favorable comment from tourists. Road maps, booklets and Centennial information are given out. Left to right are W.B. Drennan, Taylor Wilkins and Richard Vitek. Eddie Hogan is the fourth student.

Local painter/artist Ted Schirmer also painted a picture of Main Street in early Denison's history as well as the Katy rolling into Denison on Christmas Eve 1872; these were hung in the State National Bank at Denison for many years. "One a painting on canvas that measures four by eight feet is on exhibit in the musuem at Grayson County Frontier Village. The painting, a close approximation of life in early Denison was hung at the State National Bank, 300 West Main. Schirmer, then 66 years old, painted the picture titled "Katy Station, January 1873" as if he was facing north one January day in 1873....Schirmer, who painted the scenes at his home studio on East Texas Street, said in a second story in The Herald that the picture was a composite of actual photographs in an old booklet, "Glimpses of Denison" that was owned by Miss Jennie Jackson who had a connection with Dwight Eisenhower's family when they lived in Denison.
Schirmer's daughter, Alice Schirmer Stratton, who lived in Pottsboro when the painting stories were written in 2006, said that one of her dad's pictures hung in the old Officer's Club at Perrin Air Force Base. She said her mother told her that a drawing of President Eisenhower was given to the Denison Public Library many years ago. Schirmer died in 1963."

Quotations from:
Donna Hunt. "Yesteryear". June 2016