Site of Collin McKinney Homestead
Anna, Collin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Collin McKinney, a delegate to the General Convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos who helped draft the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico and later the Constitution of the Republic of Texas, settled in this area about 1846. On July 10, 1848, McKinney bought the Rob Whitaker survey around this site from Anna Whitaker, paying $500 for 640 acres. The McKinney family was active in the the region: they were instrumental in building the Mantua Road and the organization of the town of Mantua and the Van Alstyne Christian Church. Collin McKinney divided his land among his heirs in 1857. He died in 1861. The McKinney family gave his house to the city of McKinney in 1936. The structure burned in 1980. Collin McKinney's legacy continues to influence the history of north Texas. (2000)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Collin McKinney had already helped draft the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas when he settled this area around 1846, buying 640 acres for $500. His family helped build the Mantua Road, organize the town of Mantua, and found a church before he divided his land among his heirs and died in 1861. His house stood until it burned in 1980, and both a county and its seat carry his name.
Why it matters
McKinney is one of the founding figures of Texas independence, and the counties and towns named for him show how a young republic wrote its patriots into the map itself.
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Related people
- · Collin McKinney
- · Anna Whitaker
Related events
- · Texas Declaration of Independence
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Mantua
Anna, TX
In 1854 a group of founders set aside twenty-five acres for the town of Mantua, conceived expressly to support the Mantua Seminary, with lot sales funding the school and deed restrictions banning gambling, horse racing, and liquor. A Masonic lodge, post office, and co-educational seminary followed, and by 1868 the school enrolled some eighty pupils. But when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad laid its tracks a mile and a half east in 1872, residents and businesses decamped for the new town of Van Alstyne, and Mantua faded until only its cemetery and a road name remained.
Scott-Barker House
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This L-plan Victorian dwelling went up around the 1870s, as the young town of Melissa was taking root in the Blackland Prairie of North Texas. Merchant Louis A. Scott and his wife Louise bought it in 1880, and after 1903 it passed to the Barker family, whose daughters lived here for 85 years. When a devastating tornado tore through Melissa in 1921, the sturdy house lost only a chimney—a small testament to its solid construction and its distinctive dormers and Mansard-type roofs.
Chambersville Cemetery
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Elisha and Margaret Ann Chambers came to Texas from Indiana in 1847, and when their infant son died in 1853 they gave the land where he was buried for a cemetery and school. The site once stood at the crossroads of a busy farm community of homes, a cotton gin, stores, and a post office, and those buried here were its storekeepers, teachers, blacksmiths, farmers, and soldiers. By 1999 some 950 graves recorded the community's long history.
Chambersville Methodist Church
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Though Chambersville dates to 1847, its residents worshiped in non-denominational services at scattered locations until the Methodist congregation formally organized in 1905. J. M. Bryan deeded land across from the community school, where members first met in a white frame building and later built anew in 1948. Its Harvest Festival, begun in 1945, grew into a lasting Chambersville tradition.