Over six years ago I wrote of the Seven Wonders of  Bonham’s Past and then of the Seven Wonders of Bonham’s Present. With the advent of new residents to Bonham and the continued popularity of the eNews, editor Allen Rich asked me to look these over and revise, if needed. I thought, Really, now. What could have changed? As it turns out, quite a bit.

So, for our mutual enlightenment--and to teach us all  that it just seems like nothing ever happens in Bonham--the revised  versions. I kept my original wonders, and the first articles may be  found in the e-News archives by following the links at the bottom.

Realizing that I wouldn’t be able to make a truly representative list without help, in the spring of 2003, I sought out Tom Scott, curator of the Fannin County Museum of History. It took us a while to narrow our lists into uniformity, as he had actually started with 26 wonders. With Tom’s untimely death this last July, my consultation days were over. With continued due thanks, all images except the Cotton Mill are courtesy of the Museum’s collection.

Here, offered for your remembrance, in the order in which they 
disappeared:

1. The Courthouse. Not the visage we see now nor the truncated one left after a fire on December 31, 1929, destroyed the signature cupola and roof, but the original built in 1888. Costing $77,000 and from stone quarried south of Gober, it was built by Scottish-born stonemasons, Karnack and Kane. When the citizenry failed to approve bond issues that would have restored its appearance, the county commissioners took the $55,000 in insurance money and remodeled it in 1931. By 1965, a modern look to the building was desired and it was remodeled, inside and out. Just think, under that current exterior beats a heart of Fannin County stone and, thanks to the hard work and diligence of the Friends for Courthouse Restoration, we should see it again.

2. The original public school. In 1880, the Fannin College for Men, a private secondary school, opened at the end of West Fifth Street. The school shut in 1890 and was bought by the City of Bonham to serve as the first public high school. It was torn down in 1902, and in 1903, the first building meant to be Bonham High School was opened. In 1914, the high school was built on Main near the present day auditorium and the original school became Duncan Elementary. In the early 1950s, a new building program gave us the just-closed Bailey Inglish and the current IW Evans (built where the Bonham Natatorium had stood). Duncan was torn down. The land was empty for 5-6 years before being bought by the Sam Rayburn Foundation for the Library that opened in 1957.

3. The old churches: First Baptist (1917-1958, torn down), First Methodist (1898-1959, torn down), and Holy Trinity Episcopal (1880-1962, destroyed by fire). The pictures speak for themselves of a variety of architecture, two counterpoints of which are still in existence in the First Presbyterian Church (built 1897) and the First Christian (built 1912), a block apart on North Main Street.

4. The Hotel Alexander. Occupying the southwest corner of Center and 4th, this three-story piece of Bonham history was completed in 1890.  It had both dining room and ballroom and boasted famous guests such as William Jennings Bryan who came through on his presidential campaign of 1912. Sabine Valley Ice Cream, Woolworth's, and Grant Vogue, a ladies' store, occupied its ground floor at various times. 

The ice cream store was in the original Alexander's Bar. It was 
closed as a hotel in 1963, and the top two floors, which had become 
hazardous, removed in 1975.

5. The Steger Opera House. On the northeast corner of Center and 6th, this two-story brick edifice was completed in 1890. Productions with a full orchestra were not uncommon and the stage could hold a circus ring. It was sold in 1920, and for a brief time was a silent movie house. Various businesses occupied it until it was torn down in 1980.

6. The Bonham Cotton Mill. Founded by a group of investors in 1900, this was the first major industry in the city or county. Eventually creating as many as 400 jobs, the mill made both unbleached muslin and a heavy canvas drill cloth produced in olive drab during World War II. It was closed as a business in the early 1960s and the property eventually deteriorated. Demolition took place gradually, with the mill finally disappearing in the early 1980s.

Today, Powder Creek Park covers the 55 acres, with a one-mile walking track and restrooms. A playground has been designed but is not yet funded.

7. Allen Memorial Hospital. 1903 saw the first hospital in the city and county. It was named for Mrs. Simon Bolivar Allen who donated the funds. By 1915 there was a nursing school. In 1972, Allen Memorial closed its doors with the advent of the new county hospital, now known as Red River Regional Hospital. In 1994, Allen Memorial was torn down and burned.

Bonham past: April 29, 2003
http://www.ntxe-news.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=3&num=5373

Author's note: See http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sunken/wonders/ for a listing of the original Seven Wonders