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GAINESVILLE,
TEXAS
Cooke
County Seat, Central
Texas North
33°37'49"N 97°8'25"W (33.630360, -97.140323)
Interstate 35 Highway 82
67 miles N of Dallas
22 miles E of Saint Jo
33 miles N of Denton
33 miles W of Sherman
ZIP codes 76240-76241
Area code 940
Population: 17,394(2020)
16,002 (2010) 15,538 (2000) 14,256 (1990)
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History
in a Pecan Shell
1840: Peters Colony attracts first settlers by offering land grants
1845: Fort Fitzhugh established 3.5 miles Southeast of the future
town
1850: Town established on 40 acres donated by Mary Clark
1851: post office is granted
1858: Gainesville becomes a stop on the Butterfield Stagecoach Line
from Missouri to California
1862: The "Great
Hanging" incident where 40 men were lynched (and 2 shot) for being
Union loyalists
1873: Town is incorporated
1886: The Santa Fe Railroad comes through Gainesville
1915: Gainesville's population reaches nearly 7,500 people
1942: Camp Howze opens
as an Infantry training facility - population doubles |
Gainesville,
Texas
Landmarks / Attractions / Images
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| Photo
courtesy County Judge Jason Brinkley, 2018 |
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Morton Museum
of Cooke County
In the restored firehouse - 210 S. Dixon
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Cotton Gin in
Gainesville, 1910
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/
See Cotton | More Cotton
Gins |
Gainesville
Chronicles
The
1862 Hangings at Gainesville Texas by W.T. Block
Certainly one of the worst atrocities of the Civil War occurred
in Gainesville, Texas in Oct. 1862, when 40 men, suspected of Union
sympathies, were hanged...
Gainesville
Event Highlights the Great Hanging of 1862
Flagpole
by Mike Cox
This story is about a mystery involving the flag staff that once
stood at Camp Howze, a sprawling World War II Army base at Gainesville...
Circus
by Mike Cox
Being a newspaper editor always has been something of a high wire
act. But for Peggy O’Neal, it was easy...
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Gainesville,
Texas Native Sons
Born
in a Wagon Yard, the Buck Started There by Mike Cox
No, really, Frank Buck wasn’t a cartoon character. Maybe his unusual
if particularly fitting surname – given that he became world renowned
as a pith helmet-wearing-big-game hunter from Texas who “brought
‘em back alive” from Africa and other exotic locales -- is what
led to a mistaken perception that Buck was only a fictional hero
like the Green Hornet, Superman, Batman, or the Incredible Hulk.
Bring
'Em Back Alive: Frank Buck by Archie P. McDonald
Before the late Steve Ervin wrestled his first crocodile, before
Jane Goodall learned to communicate with chimps, before swimming
champion Johnny Weissmuller personified Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan
and Jungle Jim in movies and serials, and before John Wayne performed
in a film titled "Hatari!" about a professional trapper of animals
for zoos, Frank Buck captured American and international audiences
with tales of his adventures doing just those kinds of things everywhere
on the planet...
"My
Blue Heaven: Gene Austin" by Archie P. McDonald
Gainesville, in Cooke County, gained a native son named Eugene Lucas
on June 24,1900. Lucas became one of the nation's most popular entertainers
during the 1930s, but by then he used his stepfather's name-Austin...
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Gainesville
Tourist Information
Gainesville
Area Chamber of Commerce:
P.O. Box 518 101
South Culberson Street, Gainesville, TX 76241
Toll Free: 888-585-4468 Local: 940-665-2831
http://www.gainesvilletexas.org/
City of Gainsville
200 S. Rusk Street, Gainesville, Texas 76240
940-668-4500
Website: http://www.gainesville.tx.us/
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Cooke
County 1907 Postal Map
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. |
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