SHAWNEE TRAIL
Historical marker, 1980
THE SHAWNEE TRAIL
IN 1838 THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS CONGRESS
APPROPRIATED
MONEY FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A NORTH-SOUTH
ROAD OPENING
THE NORTHERN TEXAS AREA TO TRADE. THE
PROJECT LEADER,
COLONEL WILLIAM G. COOKE, FOLLOWED AN
EXISTING INDIAN
TRAIL WHICH REACHED FROM THE RED RIVER
TO AUSTIN.
A SUPPLY FORT ESTABLISHED ON THE RIVED
NEAR THE
TRADING POST OF HOLLAND COFFEE WAS NAMED
FOR CAPTAIN
WILLIAM G. PRESTON, A VETERAN OF THE
TEXAS REVOLUTION,
WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF TROOPS STATIONED
THERE IN 1840.
THE NORTHERN SECTION OF THE ROAD, CALLED
THE PRESTON
ROAD, TERMINATED AT THE TRINITY RIVER
CROSSING. THERE
IN 1841 JOHN NEELY BRYAN, A CLERK IN
COFFEE'S TRADING
POST, BEGAN THE SETTLEMENT OF DALLAS.
BY THE 1850s THE ROAD WAS KNOWN AS THE
SHAWNEE
TRAIL AND WAS USED BY IMMIGRANTS COMING
TO TEXAS.
IT ALSO SERVED AS A CATTLE TRAIL,
LEADING TO NORTHERN
MARKETS. TRAFFIC DECREASED FOLLOWING THE
CIVIL WAR
AS NEW TRAILS WERE OPENED TO SERVE THE
GROWING
TEXAS CATTLE INDUSTRY. FURTHER DECLINE
OCCURRED WHEN
RAIL LINES WERE COMPLETED TO THE AREA IN
THE 1870s.
LEBANON SERVED AS AN ASSEMBLY POINT FOR
CATTLE
DRIVES ON THE SHAWNEE TRAIL. BYPASSED BY
THE FRISCO
RAILROAD IN 1902, THE TOWN DECLINED. THE
POST OFFICE,
OPENED IN 1860, CLOSED IN 1905.
This historical marker was originally
in front of the Lebanon Baptist Church. When Preston Road was widened in 1999,
the historical marker was moved to the Frisco - Preston Ridge campus of Collin County Community
College.
Places Index
Recommended
citation:
"The Shawnee
Trail - Places, COLLIN COUNTY HISTORY," Collin County, Texas History and Genealogy
Webpage by Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc., <http://www.geocities/genfriendsghl>
[Accessed Fri February 13, 2004].
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