   In 1879, Welcome
Adams deeded a half acre of land to the Grayson County judge and his
successors to be used for a public school, a community was begun.
The school in Shiloh Community, which had been organized soon
after the Civil War and located a mile and a half east, moved to the
new site.
Welcome Adams and T. Kyle erected a frame building facing west on the newly laid-out Front Street in 1880. They put in a grocery store in the building and a town was born. In 1881, the Texas and Pacific Railroad passed through the this town and Dr. J. S. Nichols applied for a federal post office which was granted. The crew used water from the local well and named the site "Tioga", a New York Indian word said to mean "swift current" or "fair and beautiful". Tioga was incorporated in 1906. This area had long been known for its mineral water which drew many people, coming by covered wagon and train, who wished to receive its benefits. The first well was dug in 1864. However its medicinal qualities were not discovered until 1884 by Matt Raines, a blacksmith. This first well became known as the "Old Original". Many other wells were dug and Tioga became a well-known health resort. When mail service began in 1881, Dr. J.S. Nichols, a physician and druggist, became the first postmaster. There were two wagon-yards, boarding houses and hotels built. The first church was the Tioga Christian Church built in 1883. Other churches that followed were: Baptist 1884; Methodist 1893; Church of Christ 1920; Assembly of God 1947; and Mt. Carmel Baptist Church. In 1884 the community had two churches, a school, a cotton gin, a grocery, a general store, a pharmacist, a carpenter, a blacksmith and a population of sixty. By 1892 the town also supported a military academy, a gin and gristmill, a physician and a restaurant. The population was 600. Most of the businesses were built on Front Street and along South Main. A public square was dedicated in east Tioga in 1898. The public square had brick stores on the north and west sides. There were four public water wells on the square. The first one was hand-dug. The others were deep drilled wells. The first bank was known as "Tioga Bank" which opened in 1902. Tioga's one-room jail was built in 1906. It was restored as a bi-centennial project by the Tioga "Tower Club" in 1975. The cemetery was established in the early 1900s with the earliest marked tombstone being 1906. There were three newspapers that serviced the Tioga community.
In 1947 one of the bathhouses was destroyed by fire, and the wells were temporarily shut down. However, a new proprietor built new bathhouses and continued to boost the town as a health resort. Tioga remained loyal to its Indian heritage by keeping its name rather than changing it for the publicity it would have gained as the birthplace of actor Gene Autry.  Tioga History  Towns Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message.  |