Bonham, Texas -- After the Civil War a number of corporations began the process of establishing railroads in Texas.
A line was proposed that would begin at Marshall to Texarkana, and then from Texarkana to the west and from Sherman to the east.
On December 7, 1872 a mass meeting of the citizens of Bonham was held at the courthouse to settle a dispute over location of the proposed depot to be constructed when the line arrived in the city. Two sites were offered with strong proponents for both. One site was east of town in the Bois d'Arc bottom. The other was 250 yards south of the courthouse square.
The later site was referred to as "being free from frogs, turtles, water moccasins, mosquitos, and mud." After a three hour debate a petition was drawn up requesting city fathers to order an election on the subsidy question and to locate the depot at the site south of the square. The subsidy question involved a demand by the railroad owners for a financial donation by the city to aid in construction of the line and the depot.
The election was scheduled for mid January with funds in the amount of $25,000 to be allocated to the subsidy. There was still much bitter feeling over the depot location and partly as a result the election failed 425 votes against and 229 voted for.
Fearing a loss of the railroad for the city, the officials took another course of action. Using several tracts of land owned by the city from the Inglish and Simpson donations, land along Powder Creek from city limits to city limits was donated in lieu of the subsidy. The deed to the property specified that "Texas and Pacific Railway Company shall establish and maintain a passenger and freight depot upon the land herein conveyed.”
The Texas and Pacific Railway Company continued work on the Transcontinental Line through the spring and summer of 1873 as the line was being built from Sherman eastward. In later spring or early summer construction was begun on the depot between Main and Center Streets.
The only information about the building comes from a series of Sanborn Insurance maps. The building was surrounded by an elevated dock. Adjoining on the east end and running to the end of the block was a wooden freight dock covered by a roof but with open sides. Across three lines of railroad tracks was a large cotton shipping platform where bales of cotton were stored awaiting transport.
Track laying reached Savoy by the middle of August. The Transcontinental track from Sherman to Bonham was completed and the first train arrived on October 12, 1873.
Newspaper editor Tom Burnett stated: “Many important changes have occurred in the city and its surroundings. New houses have sprung up everywhere and the town has put on railroad airs in profusion. The Transcontinental has been completed and trains come thundering along every few hours. Our merchants and business men have acquired an additional spring in the heel, and claw and hammer coats and four story tops of the latest distress parade the streets in droves. We hardly know the place and fear we shall have to fly around briskly (with pencil behind ear) to keep up with the times and season."
By November 1 the rails reached the county line beyond Honey Grove. The days of the stage coach were numbered with each mile of railroad construction.
The 8.78 miles from Brookston to Paris was finished in 1875 and 90.44 miles from Paris to Texarkana were completed in 1876.
The remainder of the Transcontinental line from Sherman to Fort Worth was not constructed until 1880, finally providing the link-up with the principal line of the Texas and Pacific Railway.
The Fannin County Museum of History is located in the Texas & Pacific Depot which was built in 1918 and replaced an earlier depot that had burned.
The Museum has many items relating to the railroad in Bonham. Stop by to see the Depot, the restored caboose and the many items in the Railroad Room.
Note: This article is adapted from articles written by Tom Scott in 1992.