Allen, Texas
Located in the
Prairies and Lakes
region, the town of Allen, Texas is in
Collin
county.
Allen is on U.S. Highway 75 eight miles southwest of McKinney in southwestern Collin County. The town was established in 1870 by a purchasing agent for the Houston and Texas Central Railway and named in 1872 for Ebenezer Allen, former attorney general of Texas and a promoter of the railroad. In 1876 a post office opened there. Four years later Denton outlaw Sam Bass supposedly committed the first train robbery in the state at Allen. By 1884 Allen had a population estimated at 350, three churches, a school, a chair factory, and a flour mill. In 1908 the Texas Traction Company built an electric railway through the town. The population had increased to 550 by 1915. In the mid-1940s the number of residents declined to 400, and in 1948 train service was discontinued.
Courtesy The Handbook of Texas Online
Credits:
Old Postcards courtesy www.txgenweb.org/postcards
Courthouse Photos courtesy www.barnfield.net
State Park and Historic Site Photos courtesy State of Texas.
Misc. City Photos courtesy local tourism offices.
Misc. Photos courtesy All Across Texas.
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