Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Sherman

The Sherman U.S. Post Office and Courthouse

by VeronicaG

As we were leaving Sherman, we turned the car onto Pecan Street and noticed this distinguished Renaissance style building--the Sherman U.S. Post Office and Courthouse (1847).

It was designed by architect, James Knox Taylor, with F.L. Stevenson as contractor and is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. It continues to operate as a courthouse and post office.

Renaissance style reflects elements from ancient Greece and Rome and is a very symmetrical and orderly design. The arrangement of columns, pilasters and lintels resemble those which ornamented structures from classic antiquity.

*101 E. Pecan St., Sherman, Texas

Early Residents of Grayson County

by VeronicaG

Before Grayson County* was created, when the area was unsettled yet by travelers venturing to the area, the Caddo Indians lived here. These various groups were the first inhabitants which included the Kichai, Ionis and Tonkawa Indians--the original east Texas farmers.

These people lived off the fertile land, which was ideal for agriculture. When the Spanish and French came to the area in the 1700's to set up trading posts along the Red River, the native people traded with the new visitors.

Early Spanish and French settlements were Preston Bend on the Red River, Pilot Grove to the county's southwest and Warren (1836-37).

*FYI: Grayson County is named for Peter Wagener Grayson, attorney general of the Republic of Texas

(Pictured is a painting is by George Catlin, Comanche Camp in 1834)

Keeweechic's Sherman

by keeweechic

Sherman was named for General Sidney Sherman who was a cavalry officer famous for coining the phrase “Remember the Alamo”. The city, formed in 1846, is the seat of Grayson County and commenced its humble beginnings by enterprising pioneers who hitched a yoke of oxen to a pecan tree and dragged out the streets. They draped a bearskin over a tree stump and called it a pulpit and used the pockets of an old coat hanging on a public square as the first bank and post office.

Over the following 2 years a log courthouse and a public well was built and the city spread out over 80-acres to form the town site. Log cabins were built with no window panes, walnut lumber was exported. Cattle were plentiful and the big drives North began. Hunters from the plains to the West came to the Sherman square to sell their profitable buffalo hides as crafts. Farming flourished and wheat and cotton buyers flooded the town and new mills and brick yards were built. In the 1870’s the railroad moved into the town and along with it came with new banks, another college and an opera house. In 1875 two fires levelled the wooden section of the business district and 40 new brick buildings went up within the year Sherman thrived as an important economic, cultural and educational centre, so much so it was referred to as "The Athens of Texas".

The middle 1920s Sherman already had 54 industries, strong schools and colleges, its own municipal airport. It was tagged the "Fifth Industrial City of Texas." Perrin Air Force Base was formed during World War II. Oil was discovered in the 1950s and the town began to prosper. It now boasts one of Texas’ highest per capita incomes and constitutes the largest commercial market between Dallas and Tulsa. Sherman is home to many Fortune 500 companies, which include Texas Instruments, Proctor and Gamble and Johnson & Johnson Medical Inc.

The middle 1920s Sherman already had 54 industries, strong schools and colleges, its own municipal airport. It was tagged the "Fifth Industrial City of Texas." Perrin Air Force Base was formed during World War II. Oil was discovered in the 1950s and the town began to prosper. It now boasts one of Texas’ highest per capita incomes and constitutes the largest commercial market between Dallas and Tulsa. Sherman is home to many Fortune 500 companies, which include Texas Instruments, Proctor and Gamble and Johnson & Johnson Medical Inc.

Photos which are taken by myself and all headings are copyright and digitally marked. Please do not use them without permission. Thanks.
(c) keeweechic 2001-2008 (copyright)