VAN ALSTYNE, TEXAS

Grayson County, Central Texas North

33°25'26"N 96°34'43"W (33.423911, -96.578730)

Highways 5 and 75, and FM 121
12 miles S of Sherman the county seat
Population: 4,256 Est. (2018)
3,046 ( 2010) 2,502 (2000) 2,090 (1990)

Book Hotel Here › Sherman Hotels

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

History in a Pecan Shell

The present town of Van Alstyne was formed by residents of a town named Mantua when their community was bypassed by the Houston and Texas Central Railway railroad in 1872. The new town was either named after a railroad stockholder (Marie Van Alstyne) or William A. Van Alstyne, the railroad's surveyor.

A post office was opened in 1873 and the town's population was 400 in 1890. Ten years later the population was nearing 2,000. It's population declined slightly during the first years of the 20th Century but remained strong with all essential business intact. By the mid 1930s it was back up to 1,453 and rose slightly to 1,650 in the late 1940s.

Van Alstyne Landmarks

Downtown Van Alstyne
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

Van Alstyne Texas Downtown building old photo

Same building from an old newspaper clipping
More Texas Then & Now

First Christian Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

Van Alstyne Tx First United Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007
More Texas Churches

Painted sign Drink Dr. Pepper, Van Alstyne Texas

Dr. Pepper sign
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

Fountain Coca-Cola Sign
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007
More Texas Signs / Coca-Cola

Rexall Drugs Sign
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, February 2007

The Public School at Van Alstyne
Photo courtesy Stephen Taylor, May 2006

Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, August 2013
Cannon Cemetery
FM 121
4.5 miles E of Van Alstyne

Take a road trip

Van Alstyne, Texas Nearby Towns:
Sherman the county seat
Denison
Dallas
See Grayson County

Book Hotel Here:
Sherman Hotels | More Hotels

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