The graves of two War of 1812 Veterans will receive grave markings in a dedication ceremony on October 15, 2023, at 3:00 p.m., at Old Pilot Grove Cemetery in Pilot Grove, Texas. The Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Texas, Craig Austin Rowley Chapter will join the United States Daughters of 1812, John Cavet Chapter #39 for this ceremony. The veterans are Benjamin Pierce and Mannon Clement. Both fought under General Andrew Jackson.

This is the 30th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. The blocks on Main Street south of what is now Sam Rayburn Drive have historically been called Panther Row. The area was originally called Post Office Row, because the Post Office was there for 30 years, moving around 1885. Then the area began to be called "Panther Row" around 1895.

Come to Bonham on Saturday, September 23, 2023, to join us for Farming Heritage Day at the Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site! This free event from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. will have farm animals, antique tractors and cars, games, and activities. Bonham Fix & Feed will be at the Rayburn House to hand out free hot dogs to hungry visitors (while supplies last). We will also have bottled water for everyone thanks to a generous donation from the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance agents in Bonham. Everyone is welcome to learn about the role farms have in our everyday lives as they hear about an important figure in American history – Sam Rayburn.

This is the 29th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Erwin Smith visited and worked on ranches in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, documenting the cowboy way of life at the time when the open range was disappearing. After his death in 1947, the extensive collection of his negatives eventually found a home at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth.

As Fannin County prepares for the county fair in October, an article in the Fort Worth Gazette offers a glimpse of activities at 1892 Fannin County Fair. There was horse racing, a league baseball game against Denison, herds of livestock, a gun club tournament and a bois d'arc wagon built in Bonham that would go on to be exhibited in the 1893 World's Fair.

This is the 28th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Bonham State Park was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). For decades it was a wonderful playground for the citizens of Bonham and Fannin County. Today it is still enjoyed by local residents and draws tourists to Fannin County.

Dale Clark hoped other guitar payers would like his Glendale Guitars as much as he did. When the phone rang, it was legendary ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons on the other end. (L-R)Billy Gibbons and Dale Clark. courtesy photo

This is the 27th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Since at least 1870 there had been interest in holding a county fair in Fannin County. The Houston Telegraph reported in 1873 that the Fannin County Fair would be held in the fall for 4 days. The Galveston Daily News reported in 1876 that there were 20 county fair associations in Texas, and The Fannin County Fair Association was one of them.

This picture was taken in the 1930s from the west side of South Main Street in Dodd City looking northeast. This article is the 10th in a series by Andy & Sherri Weeks.

In recent years, no one has done more to promote the unique properties of local bois d'arc wood than David Keene. Mr. Keene has served as an ambassador of the Bois d'Arc Kingdom by creating writing pens made out of local bois d'arc wood. "Every state and national political post winner in Fannin County has one of my pens," David shared. "I have a pen in both the Lake Ralph Hall 'time capsule' and Bois d’Arc Lake time capsule, as well as the time capsule at the rededicated Fannin County Courthouse. My son, John, tells me I will be famous in 100 years!"

When you watch brightly colored yellow wood quickly molded into shape like soft butter in the hands of John Baecht, you have to keep reminding yourself that this locally grown treasure is some of the hardest wood on God's green earth. photo by Macen Baecht

This is the 26th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. The first volunteer fire department in Bonham was organized in 1893, and operated from a station on North Center Street. The first fire wagon was drawn by 2 white horses, Tom and Jerry.

Make plans to visit Bonham, TX on Saturday, August 26 for the 55th Annual Bug Tussle Trek. The Antique Automobile Association Texas Region will once again be routing their way through Bonham, TX. This year the group will be making a pit stop at the Fannin County Courthouse from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The Bonham Visitor Center is excited to announce that we will be designating Bonham’s section of the historic Jefferson Highway with historic site sign dedications, historic route sign dedications, and sociability rally on Saturday, September 23, 2023.

This is the 25th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Bonham was behind other towns in paving its streets. The main streets of Bonham were hub deep in mud during the rainy season. Bonham citizens were tired of having to wade in the mud on unpaved streets and sidewalks.

9th in a series by Andy & Sherri Weeks. Dodd City, Texas -- After the deed was filed on 08 Sep 1873 creating Dodd City, Texas the town was owned by three groups: Edmund H & Elizabeth Dodd, Texas & Pacific Railway Company and the citizens of the new town.

This is the 24th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Several Bonham streets have been named to honor individuals. Of course the most well-known is Sam Rayburn Drive. 4th Street was renamed Sam Rayburn Drive in 1962.

Fannin County, whose county seat of Bonham had the original name of Bois d'Arc, can show visitors hanging trees where public executions occurred a few blocks north of the square, and Bois d'Arc Springs near the Caddo National Grasslands, where early travelers forded Bois d'Arc Creek as early as the 1840s and inscribed their names on sandstones there. The largest bois d'arc forest ever known once stood on either side of Bois d'Arc Creek in Fannin and Lamar counties near the Sanders Site, regarded as one of the most important archeological areas in Texas. Fannin County is also the home of Orangeville, which got its name when Yankees mistook the horse apples for citrus oranges. Although bois d'arc seeds from the Red River area have produced trees all over the world, those trees are descendants of ancestors in the Bois d'Arc Kingdom.

This is the 23rd in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. This article discusses the cemeteries in Bonham which have provided a final resting place for its citizens.

(This article was originally published May 18, 2005.) Picture the Hwy 34 bridge over North Sulphur River between Ladonia and Honey Grove. Now picture it 40 feet underwater. That is how much Lake Ralph Hall would alter the landscape in southeastern Fannin County. While any decision of this magnitude will generate strong feelings in different camps, early indications are there won't be any major archeological sites disturbed and no particularly unique habitat would be endangered if the proposed lake is built in these rolling hills that can go from open pasture to creeks lined with red cedar, big bois d' arc trees and honey locust thickets.

The first accounts of the land south of the Red River in northeast Texas date from the late 1680s and reported the area inhabited by Caddo Indians. The people lived in tall huts made of grass and woven cane. The dwelling were furnished with beds and chairs, a fact not lost to the Spanish explorers who often found a closer kinships to the Caddo than to other tribes.

This is the 22nd in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. The citizens of Bonham have always valued education, so it is not surprising that they have supported a public library. The first public library was an outgrowth of the circulating library of the Current Literature Club, a women’s organization composed of twenty-five to thirty women who studied literature and the arts and initiated civic improvements.

Some people have china cabinets that they use to display their fine china or other dinnerware. Maybe they collect the china they display, or perhaps the china was a family heirloom. Whatever the reason may be, that single china cabinet might be all a person needs to show off the things that they love. Sam “Mr. Sam” Rayburn’s family in Bonham, TX, also had a china cabinet to display several of their dishes…and four hutches to display and hold the other dishes that didn’t fit in the china cabinet.

(This article was originally published in 2011) Fannin County Deputy A. Earl and Jennifer Walker of the Corps of Engineers Chief Permits Section take a close look at a fossilized fish estimated to be 79-80 million years old that was found in the upper North Sulphur River valley. The first pioneer settlers arrived in what is now Bonham, Texas in 1836 and today's residents are justifiably proud to live in one of the first towns established by Anglo settlers in Texas. But drop off into the North Sulphur River Valley near Ladonia, Texas and time operates on a completely different scale.

This is the 21st in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. In 1890 the Fannin County Commissioner's Court gave permission to J. N. Hughes to string telephone wire throughout the county. Soon many communities had telephone systems. Bring your kids to the Museum and give them a lesson on the history of the telephone.

This is the 20th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. The first school in Bonham for negro students was called the Bonham Colored School and is believed to have been built in the late 1800s. Official notice of the colored school is in the Bonham News, August 27, 1897. It was located on North Franklin Street. After that building burned, a new three-room school was built on East 7th and Katy Blvd. The school went to the 9th grade. By 1920 the school offered 11 grades and expanded to 12 grades in 1940.

When I started interning at the Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site, I found myself often looking at books from the collection displayed in the Visitor Center. These books contain in their pages insight to the person who owned that book. One certain book caught my eye in the display case every time I passed by. The book was a Christmas gift in 1912 to Lucinda Rayburn.

Joe Thurmond, Mayor of Bonham, at Will Evans' party for Fannin County, July 10-12, 1923. Evans had promoted civic and cultural events in Bonham before, but this time the effort was to be something special. The Daily Favorite of June 4, 1923 touched on what was coming. "Will H. Evans of Bonham, Texas is going to give a party. Many men have had parties, but so far as we have ever heard, no man has ever had a party like the one Mr. Evans is going to have." image courtesy of Amon Carter Museum of American Art © Erwin E. Smith Foundation

This is the 19th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Bonham residents enjoyed many amusements in the late 1800s and early 1900s, including musical and drama performances and baseball games. Once the railroad arrived in 1873 citizens of all ages could also enjoy circus performances.

Originally from Corfu, Greece, Nicholas Jonas moved to Bonham, Texas in 1912 and started working as the Proprietor of the Texas Candy Kitchen which was located on the north side of the downtown square, where the Moore Photography studio is located now.

The early hours were hot and muggy in Philadelphia on the first of July, but before the morning had turned to noon, dark roiling clouds and cool gusts of winds had rumbled into America’s largest city, pelting it with rain and slicing the sky with shards of summer lightning. It was welcome relief from the enervating heat.

This is the 18th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham.

8th in a series By Andy & Sherri Weeks. James Franklin Sadler, aka J. F., was born near the current town of Dodd City on Oct 12, 1851. His parents were John and Nancy A Stephens Sadler. His mother was born in Missouri in 1835. His father was born in Tennessee in 1820 and was a successful farmer owning around 1,000 acres in Fannin and Lamar counties. John also began a mercantile business around 1872.

With so much development and new construction Hwy. 121 North in Bonham these days, perhaps a good time to look back 10 years in this article by Tim Davis in 2013.

A few weeks ago, I related the remarkable story of Denison's Jay Hoover and the Second Battalion, 131st Field Artillery of the Lone Star state's 36th Infantry Division—Texas' Lost Battalion of World War 2. No less remarkable is the story of Sherman resident Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret) William H. Reese, taken from his own account, of being shot down over occupied France in WW2.

This is the 17th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. There were at least three millinery shops in Bonham. Fashions in hats changed from year-to-year and season-to-season, and every woman wanted the latest. The most popular and longest lasting millinery store in Bonham was that of Ms. Homer Thompson. The Fannin County Museum of History has a wonderful collection of women's hats. Come in to see them in person.photo of Mrs. Thompson, mid-center and her employees

A couple of weeks ago, I related the remarkable story of Denison's Jay Hoover and the Second Battalion, 131st Field Artillery of the Lone Star state's 36th Infantry Division—Texas' Lost Battalion of World War 2. No less remarkable is the story of Sherman resident Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret) William H. Reese, taken from his own account, of being shot down over occupied France in WW2.

This is the 16th in a series of articles for the 175 Anniversary of Bonham. What is the history of Bonham's airport, Jones Field? It got its start because of one man, Bonham native Charles Jones.

From Merriam-Webster, an epergne (pronounced i-pәrn or eh-pern) is a centerpiece that could display multiple decorative or food objects at one time. The Rayburn epergne stands 48 centimeters high by 22 centimeters wide. The top portion is made of blue and white glass with gold painted details, making the design resemble a tulip. This top connects to the center piece with brass machine bolt connectors. Tom and Lula Gooch of Dallas gifted the epergne to Sam and Lucinda "Miss Lou" Rayburn in December 1950.

With the Jack Phillips Memorial Bluebird Festival coming up Saturday in Ravenna, we thought this would be a good time to run an article about eastern bluebirds that Mr. Phillips wrote in 2009. photo by Allen Rich

Last week, I related the remarkable story of Denison's Jay Hoover and the Second Battalion, 131st Field Artillery of the Lone Star State's 36th Infantry Division—Texas’ Lost Battalion of World War 2. No less remarkable is the story of Sherman resident Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret) William H. Reese, taken from his own account, of being shot down over occupied France in WW2.

In its May 2022 meeting the Bonham Economic Development Corporation decided to bring jet fuel to Jones Field. A small story in the larger story below details how a one-time Bonham businessman tried to get the Bonham city council to do the same roughly sixty years ago, as well as urged them to lengthen the runway considerably. You might say he had a little foresight.

Chasing Durham is based on the life and legacy of lawyer William J. Durham and his advocacy for constitutional rights for all United State citizens. Durham is an international hero born to Mary and Henry Durham on April 6, 1896 in Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas. He was a member of the US Elite Army of Engineers, colored Division. Durham was a self-read constitutional lawyer, NAACP Resident Council of the State of Texas who exemplified bravery in the wake of the Sherman burning.

About 1840, one mile east of Dodd City in the L P Cook survey, the "Dodd logs" had their beginning. Edmund Dodd and his family moved into this area and began cutting bois d’arc trees from the land. These trees were then shaped into uniform logs for use in the construction of their cabin and outbuildings. These buildings were of vital importance for the protection of themselves, food and animals. They would have stayed in a tent, covered wagon or may have simply slept under the stars until the cabin was completed.

True heroes are a rare commodity. Sometimes they gain the accolade by daring acts in the face of danger; sometimes the daring act in the face of danger is surviving. One of these heroes was Denison's Jay Hoover, who survived some of worst conditions of World War 2 to come home and without fanfare get on with a life interrupted by World War 2. Mr. Hoover died, in Denison, at the age of ninety-one, in 2013. This is the second part of his story.

Perhaps there was no more audacious and daring operation of World War 2 than the Doolittle Raid over mainland Japan in 1942. Sherman native John A. Hilger was Doolittle's second in command. This is his story of that first American response to the land of the Rising Sun.

True heroes are a rare commodity. Sometimes they gain the accolade by daring acts in the face of danger; sometimes the daring act in the face of danger is surviving. One of these heroes was Denison's Jay Hoover, who survived some of worst conditions of World War 2 to come home and without fanfare get on with a life interrupted by World War 2. Mr. Hoover died, in Denison, at the age of ninety-one, in 2013. This is his story.

Nearly every Texan has, at one point or another, owned a pair of cowboy boots. They have become a symbol of the state and its rugged Western history. Big Tex sports a size-70 pair of custom Lucchese boots as he greets visitors to the State Fair of Texas, and movie cowboy John Wayne popularized the "square-toed" boot style in his many Western features. And Sam Rayburn, who faithfully served in the United States House of Representatives for almost fifty years, often wore a pair of Justin Roper Boots at home on his farm in Bonham, TX. photo courtesy of the Sam Rayburn papers, Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin

The first land (Sec. A, Rows 1-17) for what would become the Dodd City Cemetery was donated by Edmund and Elizabeth Dodd for their 5-month-old daughter, Frances Jane, who was the first known burial on Nov. 7, 1842. This land was used by the Dodd family and then by many other folks in nearby communities such as, Lick/Doddsville/Dodd, Quincey, Shade Grove, etc. It was not long until it was more than a family plot.

The bridge at Telephone was open to traffic in late May 1927. The Bonham Daily Favorite of May 23 carried a big headline which read: "Telephone Bridge Has Been Opened - Public Crossed It." Once on the Oklahoma side, the road carried travelers to Bennington. photo courtesy of Bill Griffis

Recently retired Marine Lt. General Mark R. Wise and his wife Terri visited Bonham relatives and shared pictures from the exclusive showing of the movie “Top Gun: Maverick.” General Wise was among the prestigious military personnel invited to the event. The movie was of particular interest to Mark, since he flew the F/18 Hornet, which was featured in the movie.

This is the 15th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Early citizens of Bonham and Fannin County treasured education. Records are few, but by 1859 there were 47 schools in the County which charged parents, but with some provisions for “indigent” students. One of the most well-known educators of Fannin County was Charles Carlton.

This is the 14th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. The Bonham Cotton Mill was organized in 1900 by nine Bonham directors acting for 192 local stockholders. "Bonham's people invested in the mill, Bonham people operated it, and Bonham people were employed by it." Its payroll touched almost every business in Bonham for 70 years.

This is the 13th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham.

This is the 12th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham.

Dodd City Weekly Spectator Nov. 21, 1884 - Ad sections

This is the 11th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. On January 24, 1912, the air age arrived in Bonham when famed aviator Charles F. Walsh landed his Curtiss bi-plane as part of a flying exhibition. This was only nine years after the Wright brothers’ flight at Kittyhawk in 1903.

General Zachary Taylor had reconnoitered the ground in 1841 and had recommended that the army establish a post on the site that would soon become Fort Washita. To that end, that Captain T. A. Blake brought Company A of the Second Regiment, United States Dragoons to the spot in April of the next year and set them to work.

This is the 10th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. When W.A. Spangler took office in April 1913 as the newly elected mayor of Bonham, he sensed an interest on the part of the citizens of Bonham to make an extra effort to improve their surroundings.

Part 2 of the last article continues here…. The Stephens’ family came to Fannin County, Texas in the mid 1840s and became a big part of Fannin County and Dodd City history. We will continue the story of Hugh R. Stephens and his daughter, Mary Texalina aka Texie who married Benjamin Logan Royce in 1871.

This is the 9th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Although none of the original homes remain, the Russell Heights neighborhood of Bonham was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the elite neighborhood of Bonham. Centered what is now Russell Avenue, it contained grand homes built on full city blocks.

This is part 3 in a series by Andy & Sherri Weeks. The fall of 1873 was a busy time in the new railroad town of Dodd City. The tracks were being laid, construction on the depot was moving fast and land was being purchased for businesses and homes. One new business was the General Merchandise store located across main street from the hotel. The Nov. 21, 1884 Dodd City Weekly Spectator ad states the store "now in its eleventh year" lets us know it was established in the fall of 1873.

Upper Trinity Regional Water District is building approximately 32 miles of pipeline, consisting of 66-inch and 72-inch-diameter pipe to transport water from Lake Ralph Hall. This new pipeline will connect the reservoir to an existing pipeline that currently delivers water to UTRWD’s system from Chapman Lake.

This is the 8th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Between 1891 to 1915 street cars provided transportation to Bonham citizens.

Coffee and conversation around the breakfast table - photo courtesy of Sam Rayburn Museum, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin

This is the 7th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. As discussed in the previous article on the S. B. Allen Memorial Hospital, the white citizens of Bonham and Fannin County had a hospital as of 1903. However, there was no hospital for the colored citizens. This article gives some of the history of the Fannin County Colored Hospital.

Having spent a good number of my formative years in Fannin County, I have a great interest in the rich history of Northeast Texas. An amateur genealogist and historian for the greater part of my adult life, my primary area of interest is that of the origins of the names of people and places. An honest historian in the purest sense of the word should deplore revisionism unless new facts (or old facts seen in a new light) overwhelmingly support previously unseen truth. In hopes of maintaining that approach, I wish to present some of my thoughts and research concerning the naming of Windom, Texas. I encourage any comments that the reader may wish to share in relation to the subject at hand in hopes that our common goal is further enrichment and knowledge of our local heritage.

This is the 6th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. S.B. Allen Memorial Hospital served Bonham and Fannin County from 1903 until 1972.

This is the second article in a series featuring the history of Dodd City, Texas. Dodd City was created as a railroad town; Texas & Pacific Railroad would build a depot in Dodd City by May 31, 1873 near the Dodd House/Stagecoach Inn. (photo of James Ernest Denton, T&P Depot Agent - 1910 ca)

As Trustees of the Sunnyside Cemetery in Savoy, Texas, we have been researching people who are buried there but have no tombstone or marker. We would like to reach out to the community to see if anyone might have information as to where these people are buried.

In January, RES Environmental Operating Company, LLC began clearing the areas east of SH 34. They are working to remove trees, brush and fencing that would pose a boating hazard while strategically leaving areas for future fish habitat.

This is the 5th in a series of articles for the 175th Anniversary of Bonham. Around 1885 the Bonham Post Office moved to the northeast corner of Center Street and 5th Street, where Legend Bank is now located.

The founders of Dodd City, Texas were Edmund Hall Dodd (1814 KY – 1902 TX) and Elizebeth Garrett Dodd (1815 KY - 1900 TX) who became citizens of the Republic of Texas. After receiving their land grant in December 1839, they built the town of Licke, Texas located one mile east of Dodd City.

In celebration of the 175th anniversary of the City of Bonham, the Fannin County Museum of History has a new exhibit displaying some of the many carpenter tools that the Museum owns.

Featuring Darli and Anton Iakovlef from Ballet Theater of Maryland