Lewisville, Texas - History

History

Lewisville is a flourishing town in the southeast part of Denton County, on the M., K. & T. Railroad from Dallas to Denton, on the east end of Holford's Prairie near the brakes of Big Elm.

This part of Denton County was the first to settle and we had a settlers' store by the Peters Colony at Stewartsville, or Office Branch, in the latter days of the Republic and several trading houses and band mills at different places on Holford's Prairie. The public energies of this people finally began to concentrate at Lewisville.

Then Steve Doisett moved his trading house from about one mile west down. In 1865 E. K. Rawlins put in a stock of dry goods, and in 1S66 J. D. Rawlins built a good fiame store building. In 1867 Joe Minor built a business house, and in that year T. M. Clayton and George Craft built here the first cotton gin built in Denton County. The people of Denton County and west patronized the gin. The town gradually grew and increased in favor with the trading public.

In 1881 the Dallas & Wichita Railroad (now the M., K. & T.) I'eached the suburbs of the town and the town gained new life and eneigy. It has developed into one of the best trading points in the county. There is no public square - just a main street formation from east to west with about thirty brick buildings fronting the street. Nearly all lines of trade are represented.

Other Towns

Justin, Ponder, Krum, and Sanger, towns established by the Santa Fe Railroad, are situated in the western part of the county, known as the wheat-belt, and cover the territory formerly covered by Elizabethtown, Stony and Bolivar. Aubrey, Argyle, and Roanoke, established by the Texas & Pacific ; Garza, established by the M., K. & T., and Hebron, by the Frisco Railroad, are comparatively new towns, and are rapidly building up to meet the wants of their people.

These towns have churches, postoffices, banks, schools, mills, elevators, and commercial entei'prises equal to their necessities, and are dependent upon the agricultural resources of the surrounding country for their support.

On account of having railroad transportation these towns have good markets for their agricultural products, which enables them to maintain their local trade centers and build up their communities.

We have several lural villages and trading houses in various pai'ts of the county, but for lack of marketing facilities their development necessarily will be slow and uncertain.