Allen Station of the Texas Electric Railway
Allen, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Community of Allen, founded in the 1870s, experienced a surge of growth after the arrival of the Texas Traction Company in 1908. The town was a stop on the interurban line between Dallas and Sherman, serviced daily by hourly passenger cars from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Two daily freight deliveries brought mail, produce, and railway express packages. After first operating from a farmhouse, Texas Traction bought this property in 1912 and built this brick depot in 1913. The railway became the Texas Electric in 1917, with service from Denison to Waco until it was abandoned in 1948. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The town of Allen boomed after the Texas Traction Company's interurban line arrived in 1908, linking Dallas and Sherman with hourly electric passenger cars and twice-daily freight. After first working from a farmhouse, the company bought this property and built a brick depot in 1913. Renamed the Texas Electric Railway in 1917, the line ran from Denison to Waco until it was abandoned in 1948.
Why it matters
It preserves the era of electric interurban railways that briefly knit Texas towns together with fast, frequent service before the automobile swept them away.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Allen
Allen, TX
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.
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