Lavon
Lavon, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Located in southeastern Collin County, the rich soils of the Blackland Prairie and the water provided by Bear Creek attracted settlers to the Lavon area in the 1850s. Elbert C. Thompson came to the area in 1854 and others soon followed. Lavon began when the St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad came through the county in 1886. The first post office started in 1888 with Elbert Thompson serving as the first postmaster. Originally, the town was known as Thompson or Thompson Switch, after Mr. Thompson, who also owned a general store. To avoid confusion with another town named Thompson, the name was changed to Lavon in honor of Mr. Thompson's son, Bud O. Lavon Thompson. Early on there was a depot, meat market, general store, restaurant and barber shop. A bank building was built in 1907. James L. Rees, a Civil War veteran, and Miranda Rees' home was moved down the street to make room for the bank building. The Rees' home stands today as the oldest home in Lavon. Before a church was built, a two-story brick schoolhouse served as a place for people to worship. The Lavon Presbyterians organized in 1897 and erected a church in Lavon which served as a community church. Each denomination would alternate Sundays to provide a place of worship for the community until the late 1940s. From 1938 to 1940, a school building was built under the Works Progress Administration. In the 1950s, the creation of Lavon Dam attracted fishermen and boating enthusiasts to the area as a popular resort spot. Over the years, a number of businesses have been in Lavon, including a restaurant that filmed scenes for the 1967 movie, Bonnie and Clyde. The town incorporated in 1972. (2013)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Drawn by the rich Blackland Prairie soil and Bear Creek's water, settlers reached the Lavon area in the 1850s, and the town proper took root when the railroad arrived in 1886. Originally called Thompson or Thompson Switch after early postmaster and merchant Elbert Thompson, it was renamed Lavon for his son to avoid confusion with another town. WPA crews built a school here in the late 1930s, and in the 1950s Lavon Dam turned the area into a fishing and boating retreat—one restaurant even appeared in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde.
Why it matters
It captures the layered life of a north Texas farm town shaped by soil, railroad, New Deal labor, and mid-century recreation.
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Related people
- · Elbert C. Thompson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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