1.
Tyler, Texas
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Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. This city had a population of 96,900 in 2010, tylers 2014 estimated population is 107,405. It is 100 miles east-southeast of Dallas, Tyler has the nickname Rose Capital of the World. It gained this name due to the quantity of roses processed through the area. Tyler is also home to the Caldwell Zoo and Broadway Square Mall, Tyler is located at 32°20′03″N 95°18′00″W at 544 feet above sea level. Tyler is surrounded by smaller cities, including Whitehouse, Lindale, New Chapel Hill, Bullard, Edom, Brownsboro. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 54.4 square miles. Tyler experiences weather typical of East Texas, which is unpredictable, all of East Texas has the humid subtropical climate typical of the American South. The record high for Tyler is 115 °F, which occurred in 2011, the record low for Tyler is −3 °F, which occurred on January 18,1930. As of the 2010 census,96,900 people resided in the city of Tyler, the population density was 1,782.0 people per square mile. The 41,742 housing units averaged a density of 716.7 per mi2. The racial makeup of the city was,60. 5% White,24. 8% Black,0. 5% Native American,1. 9% Asian,0. 03% Pacific Islander,10. 3% from other races, and 2. 0% from two or more races. About 21. 2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race, the median income for the city was $42,752 and the poverty rate was 19. 5%. In place for nearly 70 years, the Health District became an entity in 1994. With a stated vision To be the Healthiest Community in Texas, the Health District has a broad range of services and responsibilities dedicated to their mission, To Protect, Promote, and Provide for the Health of Our Community. Tyler is represented in the Texas Senate by Republican Kevin Eltife, District 1, the Texas Twelfth Court of Appeals is located in Tyler. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice operates the Region I Parole Division Office, senators from Texas are Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, Tyler is part of Texas US Congressional 1st District, which is currently represented by Republican Louie Gohmert. The United States Postal Service operates several post offices in Tyler, including Tyler, Azalea, Southeast Crossing, several Tyler schools offer international baccalaureate and advanced placement programs
2.
Beaumont, Texas
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Beaumont is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Texas in the United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. Beaumont was founded as a town in 1835 by Northerners, the early European-American settlement had an economy based on the development of lumber, farming, and port industries. Rice became an important commodity crop in Texas, and is now cultivated in 23 counties, a big change occurred in 1901 with the Spindletop gusher, which demonstrated the potential of the huge oil field. With Spindletop, several companies developed in Beaumont, and some continue. The area rapidly developed as one of the major petro-chemical refining areas in the country, along with Port Arthur and Orange, Beaumont forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the Texas Gulf Coast. Beaumont is home of Lamar University, a national Carnegie Doctoral Research university with 14,966 students, including undergraduates and post graduates. Over the years, several corporations have been based in this city, gSUs Edison Plaza headquarters is still the tallest building in Beaumont. In 1824 Noah and Nancy Tevis settled on the west bank of the Neches River, soon after that, a small community grew up around the farm, which was named Tevis Bluff or Neches River Settlement. They began planning a town to be out on this land. Their partnership, J. P. Pulsifer and Company, controlled the first 50 acres upon which the town was founded and this town was named Beaumont, after Jefferson Beaumont, the brother-in-law of Henry Millard. They added more property for a total of 200 acres, Beaumont became a town on 16 December 1838. Beaumonts first mayor was Alexander Calder, from the towns founding in 1835, business activities included real estate, transportation, and retail sales. Later, other businesses were formed, especially in construction and operation, new building construction, lumber sales. The Port of Beaumont became a regional shipping center. Beaumont was a center for cattle raisers and farmers in its early years. With an active riverport by the 1880s, it became an important lumber and it exported rice as a commodity crop. The Beaumont Rice Mill, founded in 1892 by Joseph Eloi Broussard, was the first commercially successful rice mill in Texas, in addition, Broussard founded a company to operate an irrigation system to support rice culture. This helped stimulate the expansion of cultivation from 1500 acres in 1892 to 400,000 acres in 23 counties by his death in 1956
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Lufkin, Texas
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Lufkin is a city in and the county seat of Angelina County in eastern Texas, United States. This city is 120 miles northeast of Houston, founded in 1882, the population was 35,067 at the 2010 census. Lufkin is situated in Deep East Texas, the city is named for Abraham P. Lufkin, a cotton merchant and Galveston city councilman. Lufkin was the father-in-law of Paul Bremond, president of the Houston, in 1906 while living in Lufkin, writer Katherine Anne Porter married her first husband John Henry Koontze in a double ring ceremony that also saw her sister Gay Porter marry T. H. The minister who presided over the ceremony was Rev. Ira Bryce, in 1907 Allan Shivers the 37th Governor of Texas was born in Lufkin. He served as governor from 1949 to 1957, debris from the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster fell over the Lufkin area on February 1,2003. Lufkin celebrated its 125th anniversary in October 2007, Lufkin is located at 31°20′13″N 94°43′49″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 34.5 square miles. Lufkin is 120 miles northeast of Houston, on average, the warmest month is August. The highest recorded temperature was 110 °F in 1909, on average, the coolest month is January. The lowest recorded temperature was -2 °F in 1930, the maximum average precipitation occurs in May. As of the census of 2000, there were 32,709 people,12,247 households, the population density was 1,225.1 people per square mile. There were 13,402 housing units at a density of 502.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 59. 92% White,26. 58% African American,0. 26% Native American,1. 37% Asian,0. 01% Pacific Islander,10. 31% from other races, and 1. 54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17. 59% of the population,27. 9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11. 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the family size was 3.17. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 27. 0% under the age of 18,10. 6% from 18 to 24,27. 3% from 25 to 44,20. 1% from 45 to 64, the median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males
4.
Marshall, Texas
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Marshall is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County in the northeastern corner of the U. S. state of Texas. Marshall is a cultural and educational center in East Texas. At the 2010 census, the population of Marshall was about 23,523, Marshall was a political and production center of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Later it was a railroad center of the T&P Railroad from the late 19th century until the mid-20th century. This area of Texas was developed for cotton plantations, planters brought slaves with them from other regions or bought them in the domestic slave trade. It had a proportion of slaves than other regions of the state, and the wealth of the county depended on slave labor. The city was founded in 1841 as the seat of Harrison County after failed attempts to establish a county seat on the Sabine River. The Republic of Texas decided to choose the land donated for the seat by Peter Whetstone, the citys growing importance was confirmed when Marshall was linked by a telegraph line to New Orleans, it was the first city in Texas to have a telegraph service. By 1860, Marshall was the fourth-largest city in Texas and the seat of its richest county, developed as cotton plantations, the county held more slaves than any other in the state. Many planters and other whites were strongly anti-Union because of their investment in slavery, for example, brothers Lionel and Emmanuel Kahn, Jewish merchants in Marshall, fought on opposing sides in the conflict. When Governor Sam Houston refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, pendleton Murrah, Texass third Confederate governor, was also from Marshall. The city became a major Confederate supply depot and manufactory of gunpowder for the Confederate Army, the city was used as the capital of Missouris Confederate government-in-exile, earning it the nickname the City of Seven Flags. This was a nod to the flag of Missouri, in addition to the six flags of nations, Marshall became the seat of Confederate civil authority and headquarters of the Trans-Mississippi Postal Department after the fall of Vicksburg. The city may have been the target of a failed Union advance that was rebuffed at Mansfield. Toward the end of the American Civil War, the Confederate government had $9.0 million in Treasury notes and they may have intended Marshall as the destination of a government preparing to flee from advancing armies. Marshall was occupied by Union forces on June 17,1865, during Reconstruction, the city was home to an office of the Freedmens Bureau and was the base for Union troops. In 1873 the Methodist Episcopal Church founded Wiley College to educate freedmen, African Americans came to the city seeking opportunities and protection until 1878. The White Citizens Party, led by former Confederate General Walter P. Lane and his brother George and their militia ran Unionists, Republicans and many African Americans out of town
5.
Sherman, Texas
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Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The citys population in 2010 was 38,315 and it is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area, and it is part of the Texoma region. Sherman was named after General Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Texas Revolution, the community was designated as the county seat by the act of the Texas legislature which created Grayson County on March 17,1846. In 1847, a post office began operation, Sherman was originally located at the center of the county, but in 1848 it was moved about 3 miles east to its current location. By 1850, Sherman had become a town under Texas law. It had also become a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route through Texas, by 1852, Sherman had a population of 300. It consisted of a square with a log court house, and several businesses, a district clerks office. During the 1850s and 1860s, Sherman continued to develop and to participate in regional politics, the first flour mill was built in 1861. In 1862 the publisher of Shermans anti-secessionist Whig newspaper, the Patriot, was murdered, during and after the Civil War, north Texas outlaw bands led by Jesse James and William Quantrill were seen in Sherman. Years later, James spent at least part of his honeymoon in Sherman, education developed in north Texas during this time. The Sherman Male and Female High School started accepting students during 1866 and it was one of three private schools in Sherman at the time. This school operated under several names until 1935 and it gradually lost Methodist support, after the opening of Southern Methodist University in 1915 in Dallas. In 1876, Austin College, the oldest continuously operating college in Texas, Sherman Female Institute, later known as Mary Nash College, opened in 1877 under sponsorship of the Baptist Church. It continued operation until 1901 when the campus was sold to Kidd-Key College, carr–Burdette College, a womens college affiliated with the Disciples of Christ, operated there from 1894 to 1929. Jews have had a history in Sherman, too, settling in the area. While there was general depression and lawlessness during Reconstruction, Sherman remained commercially active, during the 1870s Shermans population reached 6,000. In 1875, two fires destroyed many buildings east of the square and they were rebuilt with superior materials. This included a new Grayson County Courthouse built in 1876, in 1879, the Old Settlers Association of North Texas formed and met near Sherman
6.
Plano, Texas
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Plano is a city in the U. S. state of Texas, located mostly within Collin County, but with a small portion that extends into Denton County, twenty miles northeast of downtown Dallas. The city of Plano is a part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, the citys population was 269,776 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth most populous city in the state of Texas and the 70th most populous in the United States. Penney, Pizza Hut, Rent-A-Center, Traxxas, Siemens PLM Software, european settlers came to the area near present-day Plano in the early 1840s. Facilities such as a sawmill, a gristmill, and a store soon brought more people to the area, a mail service was established, and after rejecting several names for the nascent town, residents suggested the name Plano, as a reference to the local terrain. The name was accepted by the post office, in 1872, the completion of the Houston and Central Texas Railway helped the city to grow, and it was incorporated in 1873. By 1874, the population had grown to more than 500, in 1881, a fire raged through the business district, destroying most of the buildings. The town was rebuilt and business again flourished through the 1880s, also in 1881, the city assumed responsibility for what would eventually become Plano Independent School District, ending the days of it being served only by private schools. At first, the population of Plano grew slowly, reaching 1,304 in 1900, by 1970, Plano began to feel some of the boom its neighbors had experienced after World War II. A series of public projects and a change in taxes that removed the farming community from the town helped increase the overall population. In 1970, the population reached 17,872, and by 1980, sewers, schools and street development kept pace with this massive increase, largely because of Planos flat topography, grid layout and planning initiatives. During the 1980s, many large corporations moved their headquarters to the city, including J. C. Penney and Frito-Lay, by 1990, the population reached 128,713, dwarfing the county seat of McKinney. In 1994, the city was recognized as an All-America City, by 2000, the population grew to 222,030, making it one of the largest suburbs of Dallas. Plano is surrounded by other municipalities and therefore cannot expand in area, however, as of July 2012, one large tract of land was being developed. Turnpike Commons at the intersection of Renner Rd and the George Bush Turnpike, the development is expected to feature apartments, medical facilities, restaurants, a Race Trac gas station, and a hotel. There was an epidemic of heroin abuse among young people in the 1990s, the Plano authorities created an anti-drug campaign with the name Operation Rockfest. In 2013, Plano received top-scoring nationally in a livability index according to a created by AreaVibes. com. The chart can be found here Best Places to Live in America, AreaVibes ranked Plano at the top of the list of U. S. cities with populations between 100,000 and 10,000,000. Another chart, Best Places to Live in 2013, also has Plano ranked number 1, follow this link to see the chart Top 10 Best Places to Live
7.
Angelina County, Texas
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Angelina County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 86,771, the county was formed in 1846 from Nacogdoches County. It is named for a Hasinai Native American woman who assisted early Spanish missionaries and was named Angelina by them, Angelina County is a wet county as of November 2006 wet/dry election. In November 2007 the small community of Burke was the city in Angelina county to return to dry status. The Lufkin, TX Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Angelina County, the countys first Anglo settlers were what John Nova Lomax described as Scotch-Irish backwoods folk. Cotton farmers and slaves did not come to Angelina County because it had poor soil, settlement was still thin when Texas won its independence. Angelina County was organized on April 22,1846, when Nacogdoches County was divided, the first permanent settler after the county was formed is thought to have been George W. Collins. The population increased quickly due to the good farming land and to the rivers. The population reached 1,165,196 of whom were slaves, the first county seat was Marion, successively, Jonesville became county seat in 1854, Homer in 1858, and Lufkin in 1892. Lufkin was favored by the route of the Houston, East and West Texas Railway, Angelina County was settled predominantly by natives of the southern United States, some of them slaveowners who established plantations in their new Texas home. Large plantations were owned by the Stearns, Oates, Kalty, Stovall, however, many Angelina County farmers were relatively poor men who owned no slaves. In 1847 slaves numbered 154, out of a population of 834. In 1859 the number of slaves had grown to 427, valued at $269,550, cotton culture, however, occupied only 2,048 acres of county land in 1858, a relatively small area for East Texas. Between 1850 and 1860 improved land in the county increased from about 3,000 to about 16,000 acres, in 1861 Angelina County was the only county in East Texas, and one of only a handful of other Texas counties, to reject secession. This election result was startling when compared with that of Angelina Countys neighbor to the south, Tyler County. Angelina County had also given the Constitutional Union party candidate, John Bell, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 865 square miles, of which 798 square miles is land and 67 square miles is water. Angelina National Forest As of the census of 2000, there were 80,130 people,28,685 households, the population density was 100 people per square mile. There were 32,435 housing units at a density of 40 per square mile
8.
Houston County, Texas
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Houston County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,732, the county is named for Sam Houston, a president of the Republic of Texas and Governor of Texas. Houston County was one of forty-six prohibition or entirely dry counties in the state of Texas, Houston County was the first new county created under the 9-year Republic of Texas on June 12,1837. The original boundaries of Houston County also included all of present-day Anderson and Trinity Counties, Houston County bears no relationship, save its namesake, with the City of Houston, which is located approximately 100 miles to the south, in Harris County. A county historical museum is located in a railroad depot. Samuel Cartmill Hiroms was born in present-day Polk County, his parents having been among Stephen F. Austins Old 300 families, Hiroms was an educator and a surveyor who served in the Confederate Army. He and his wife, the former Emily Ann Johnston. Their homestead was adjacent to what is now the Austonio Baptist Church on State Highway 21 in Austonio, collin Aldrich was a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto and was the first judge in Houston County, having served during the Republic of Texas from 1837-1841. Eli Coltharp established his Coltharp Hill in Houston County near Kennard, the store, post office, gristmill, cotton gin, blacksmith shop, and millinery shop were located on the stagecoach route west of Nacogcoches in Houston County. When the railroad bypassed the Contharp Community, many of the relocated to work at a nearby sawmill. James Murphy Hager of Kentucky and his wife, the former Nacoma Clark, Hager was a farmer, cabinet maker, and blacksmith. The stagecoach from Nacogdoches to Navasota, ran beside the Hagers log home, one of the Hager sons donated land for a church and a school. There was a post office at Hagerville from 1891-1905, the Four C Mill operated in Houston County during the first two decades of the 20th century. Keith, agent of the Central Coal and Coke Company in Kansas City, Missouri, Lumber to construct the new mill was cut by a small sawmill purchased in early 1901 from J. H. Ratcliff. Keith organized the Louisiana and Texas Lumber Company to operate the Four C, the mill was producing a staggering 300,000 board feet of lumber per daily by June 1902. Ratcliff Lake, now a United States Department of Interior recreational site, was the millpond for the Four C, the Texas Southeastern Railroad laid track from Lufkin to haul out the lumber. The town of Ratcliff was separated from the Four C by a fence, the 120,000 acres were in time exhausted, and by 1920, the mill shut down. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,237 square miles
9.
Shelby County, Texas
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Shelby County is a county located in the far eastern portion of the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 25,448, the county was created in 1835 as a municipality of Mexico and organized as a county in 1837. It is named for Isaac Shelby, a soldier in the American Revolution who became the first governor of Kentucky, Shelby County was formerly represented in the Texas House of Representatives by the Center businessman and conservative Republican Wayne Christian. In 2012, Christian was defeated for renomination by current Representative Chris Paddie, Shelby County was formed in 1837. It was named for Isaac Shelby, a soldier from Tennessee during the American Revolution, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 835 square miles, of which 796 square miles is land and 39 square miles is water. The population density was 32 people per square mile, there were 11,955 housing units at an average density of 15 per square mile. 9. 87% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,25. 40% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the family size was 3.08. In the county, the population was out with 26. 60% under the age of 18,8. 80% from 18 to 24,25. 80% from 25 to 44,22. 20% from 45 to 64. The median age was 37 years, for every 100 females there were 92.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.20 males, the median income for a household in the county was $29,112, and the median income for a family was $34,021. Males had an income of $26,501 versus $20,280 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,186, about 14. 90% of families and 19. 40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24. 70% of those under age 18 and 16. 90% of those age 65 or over. The future route of Interstate 369 is planned to follow the current route of U. S.59 in most places north of Tenaha. U. S. Highway 84 The future route of Interstate 69 is planned to follow the current route of U. S.84 in most places east of Tenaha to the Louisiana state line. U. S. Highway 96 State Highway 7 State Highway 87 State Highway 147 Farm to Market Road 139 Farm to Market Road 1970 US59 goes through Shelby County. US84 is planned to be upgraded to interstate standards as part of the planned Interstate 69 from Tenaha to the Louisiana state line, greyhound Lines operates the Center Station at the Shelby Countys Best Yogurt store in Center
10.
Patent
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A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An invention is a solution to a technological problem and is a product or a process. Patents are a form of intellectual property, the procedure for granting patents, requirements placed on the patentee, and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely between countries according to national laws and international agreements. Typically, however, a patent application must include one or more claims that define the invention. A patent may include many claims, each of which defines a specific property right and these claims must meet relevant patentability requirements, such as novelty, usefulness, and non-obviousness. Nevertheless, there are variations on what is patentable subject matter from country to country, the word patent originates from the Latin patere, which means to lay open. More directly, it is a version of the term letters patent. Similar grants included land patents, which were land grants by early state governments in the USA, and printing patents, a precursor of modern copyright. In modern usage, the term patent usually refers to the granted to anyone who invents any new, useful. The additional qualification utility patent is used to distinguish the primary meaning from these other types of patents. Particular species of patents for inventions include biological patents, business method patents, chemical patents, the period of protection was 10 years. These were mostly in the field of glass making, as Venetians emigrated, they sought similar patent protection in their new homes. This led to the diffusion of patent systems to other countries, by the 16th century, the English Crown would habitually abuse the granting of letters patent for monopolies. After public outcry, King James I of England was forced to revoke all existing monopolies, the Statute became the foundation for later developments in patent law in England and elsewhere. Important developments in patent law emerged during the 18th century through a process of judicial interpretation of the law. During the reign of Queen Anne, patent applications were required to supply a complete specification of the principles of operation of the invention for public access. Influenced by the philosophy of John Locke, the granting of patents began to be viewed as a form of property right. The English legal system became the foundation for patent law in countries with a common law heritage, including the United States, New Zealand, in the Thirteen Colonies, inventors could obtain patents through petition to a given colonys legislature
11.
Polk County, Texas
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Polk County is a county located in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,413, the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation of the federally recognized tribe is in Polk County, where the people have been since the early 19th century, after migrating from the Southeast. The 2000 census reported a resident population of 480 persons within the reservation, the tribe reports 1100 enrolled members. It was one of the first of a series of 23 counties, formulated, constituted and established by the State of Texas, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Allan B. Polunsky Unit is located in West Livingston and this has been the location of the State of Texas death row since 1999. As of the census of 2000, there were 41,133 people,15,119 households, the population density was 39 inhabitants per square mile. There were 21,177 housing units at a density of 20 per square mile. 9. 39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,24. 60% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the family size was 2.95. In the county, the population was out with 22. 90% under the age of 18,8. 10% from 18 to 24,26. 80% from 25 to 44,24. 20% from 45 to 64. The median age was 39 years, for every 100 females there were 108.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 109.50 males, the median income for a household in the county was $30,495, and the median income for a family was $35,957. Males had an income of $30,823 versus $21,065 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,834, about 13. 30% of families and 17. 40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23. 10% of those under age 18 and 12. 30% of those age 65 or over. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,110 square miles. Angelina College offers advanced curriculum study and technical training at this location, the facility provides public auditorium space and may be used as a mass shelter in a disaster event. U. S. Highway 59 The future route of Interstate 69 is planned to follow the current route of U. S.59 in most places, West Livingston has the Livingston Municipal Airport, operated by the City of Livingston. Livingston named a street in her honor, mark Moseley, professional football player, won Super Bowl XVII and was awarded 1982 MVP as a placekicker Moon Mullican, musician, King of the Hillbilly Piano Players
12.
Grayson County, Texas
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Grayson County is a county in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, its population was 120,877, the county was founded in 1846 and is named after Peter Wagener Grayson, an attorney general of the Republic of Texas. Grayson County is included in the Sherman-Denison, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area and it is also part of the Texoma region, with proximity to both Lake Texoma and the Red River. The earliest known inhabitants of what is now Grayson County were Caddo amerindian groups, including Tonkawa, Ionis and these groups engaged in agriculture and traded with Spanish and French at trading posts along the Red River. This resulted in the establishment of trading posts at Preston Bend on the Red River, Warren, the county seat, Sherman, was also named by the Texas State Legislature. In the 1850s, trading and marketing at Preston Bend became more important and this was helped by Preston Road, the first trail in the state which went from Preston Bend to Austin, Texas. More growth occurred after the establishment of Sherman as station of the Butterfield Overland Mail route in 1856, opinions in the county about secession were not uniform, with the county voting by more than two to one in 1861 to remain in the Union. The Great Hanging at Gainesville, where more than 40 men were killed, was a polarizing event, men from Grayson County served the Confederacy at locations in the South. The Eleventh Texas Cavalry captured Federal forts in the Indian Territory north of the Red River, economic depression occurred in Grayson County and much of Texas during the Reconstruction era following the Civil War. Movement of cattle herds north along Preston Road provided needed income for the county during this period. Settlement in Grayson County flourished during the 1870s and 1880s, when the Houston and Texas Central railroad and the Missouri, Kansas and this led to the emergence of cotton as the dominant agricultural product. Many towns, including Denison, Van Alstyne, Howe, Whitewright, Pottsboro, in 1879, a group of settlers who had settled in north Texas both before and after statehood came together in Grayson County for political discussions. They formed the Old Settlers Association of North Texas, the association accepted donations and purchased 26 acres. They continued to meet on a basis for many years. On May 15,1896, a tornado measuring F5 on the Fujita scale struck Sherman, the tornados damage path was 400 yards wide and 28 miles long, and it killed 73 people and injured 200. About 50 homes were destroyed, with 20 of them being completely obliterated, during the Sherman Riot of 1930, Grayson Countys elegant 1876 courthouse was burned down by arson during the trial of an African American man, George Hughes. During the riot, Hughes was locked in the vault at the courthouse, after rioters retrieved Hughes body from the vault, it was dragged behind a car, hanged, and set afire. Texas Ranger Frank Hamer was in Grayson County during this riot, Governor Moody sent National Guard troops to Grayson County on May 9 and more on May 10 to control the situation
