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HISTORICAL INFORMATION ABOUT SHERMAN, TEXAS
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Sherman bears the name of a Massachusetts manufacturer who became a Texas revolutionist. She wears the mark of her pioneers, men of individual enterprise who hitched a yoke of oxen to a pecan tree and dragged out the streets, flung a bearskin over a tree stump and called it a pulpit, and used the pockets of an old coat hanging on the public square as the first bank and post office.
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On March 17, 1846, her birth certificate was signed when the First Texas Legislature cut off a part of Fannin County, named the area Grayson County for Peter Grayson, Texas statesman, and called the county seat Sherman for General Sidney Sherman, cavalry officer.
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Two years later the established town had a log courthouse and a public well. It grew, sprawling over the 80-acre townsite on which Indian campfires were hardly cold. Log piled on log chinked with mud, windows without panes, walnut lumber export and courage, avarice and buffalo hides, ambition, cotton, wheat, cows, oil, a tinge of the Old South, much of the New West, elbow grease, family pride and love went into the making of Sherman.
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| In 1852 when the town was "coming four" it had 400 people. In 1858 it was incorporated. There was a union church and school, a newspaper or two at times, a community fair, stores, saloons a plenty, even a dramatics group, and mudholes in the business streets could be seen by the new gas lights. The Butterfield Trail Overland Mail with its galloping teams tied the town to the outside world. |
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Then came the strife-ridden and bloody 60s. At the end of this fratricidal struggle, farms were run-down, there was little money and no industry. But cattle were plentiful. The big drives North began. Hunters from plains to the West scented the Sherman square with their profitable, but fetid buffalo hides. As farming recovered, wheat and cotton buyers flooded the town. Crafts multiplied and trade flourished. There were new mills and brick yards, a candy factory, tannery and iron foundry.
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The 70's brought the railroads, new banks, another college, the most handsome hotel in the state and an opera house. When two fires in 1875 leveled the wooden section of the business district, 40 new brick buildings went up within the year.
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Men learned a new way of business in this town set in rich farmland which fed native products into its factories. Medical facilities expanded and several notable lawyers had offices near the Grayson courthouse.
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This was a region of varies resources. Here developed a balanced economy, flexible, giving to pressure of panic and depression; rebounding with good times.
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| Growth was as natural as the move to the West. There was no boom, no bust, just steady go-ahead. Sherman turned the century with an Old Settlers Association already going strong. In 1915, adoption of a new city charter put the town under a city manager-commission government, one of the earliest in the state. The middle 20s found Sherman with 54 industries, strong schools and colleges, and a tag, "Fifth Industrial City of Texas." She entered the air age with her own municipal airport. |
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Automation advanced, agricultural methods changed, row crops declined and pasture expanded. World War II brought Perrin Air Force Base as a part of the life and economy. When industrial dispersion moved South, Sherman was ready, backed by a pool of urban - rural labor. Industry wages sparked commerce. Oil in the 50s put a glitter on back accounts.
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The late 60s and 70s saw Perrin Air Force Base make the transition to a county airport and industrial park. Sherman industries continue to expand and new names are noticeable in our growing industrial parks. The local medical and commercial communities have been increasing rapidly to serve the needs of the dynamic area.
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Sherman, looking at the past decade and the creation of over 1000 new industrial jobs, faces the future with an immense confidence. That confidence is bolstered by its industrial and commercial, civic, and municipal leadership bonded in a firm band of dedicated men and women. They are determined that Sherman shall continue to grow and prosper.
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