Allen
Allen, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Fertile land and plentiful water drew settlers to this area from as early as the 1840s. This part of Collin County was well populated by 1876 when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a water supply stop on Cottonwood Creek near this site. The railroad stop and newly created town lots established a center of commerce for local farmers and their families and provided better equipment and broader markets for agricultural production. The surrounding open prairie soon was developed into small family farms. The Houston and Texas Central Railroad filed documents to create the town of Allen from the James L. Read survey in 1876. The village was named for Ebenezer Allen, a former Republic and State of Texas attorney general and a founder of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. A dry goods store, barber shop, and school soon opened in the rapidly growing town. Sam Bass reportedly led an outlaw gang that robbed the Allen Depot on February 22, 1878. This was probably the first successful train robbery in Texas. By 1884 the town of Allen had three churches, a flour mill, and a population of 350. In 1908 the Texas Traction Company built an electric railway through town, calling it the Interurban. The citizenry numbered 550 by 1915. Allen was incorporated in 1953 with 400 residents. Electric railway service ended in 1948 but railway freight service continued. Strong economic growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area helped the town's population grow to include more than 19,000 citizens in the 1990s. (1998)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Fertile prairie and reliable water had drawn settlers here since the 1840s, but Allen truly began in 1876 when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad built a water stop on Cottonwood Creek and platted a town, naming it for railroad founder Ebenezer Allen. In 1878 an outlaw gang said to be led by Sam Bass robbed the depot in what is often called Texas's first successful train robbery. Interurban electric rail arrived in 1908, and late-century growth in the Dallas metroplex swelled the town past 19,000.
Why it matters
Allen is a quintessential railroad town — conjured from open prairie by a rail company, seasoned with outlaw legend, and later swept up in the suburban boom of North Texas.
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Related people
- · Ebenezer Allen
- · Sam Bass
Related events
- · Allen Depot train robbery
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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