Plano, Texas: The Balloon Capital of Texas

In my quest to travel around see the cities in Texas, it occurred to me that I shouldn't ignore the cities that are in my own backyard, like Plano.

Plano is a suburb of Dallas to the north. It has a wealth of corporate headquarters like Toyota, Frito-Lay and JC Penney, to name a few. Every September, it hosts hot air balloon races, which is why it's called the Balloon Capital of Texas. But it wasn't always like this.

Plano was part of the Peters Colony, which was the name of an empresario land grant made in 1841 by the Republic of Texas to William Peters. It was his job to bring settlers to the area.

The first settlers to Plano were McBain Jameson and Jeremiah Muncey back in 1844. Unfortunately, that didn't go very well. They were killed during an Indian raid.

In 1851, William Forman moved here from Kentucky after having scouted the place out a few years before. He opened a general store and ran a post office out of his house. In 1852, a real post office was established and the town was named. The initial suggestions were Forman (after the guy that ran the General Store) and Fillmore (after the President). Both were rejected for Plano. William Forman became the first postmaster.

Plano was a farming town. The land grants were huge! 320 acres to a single man and twice that if he was married. Charles Shepard Haggard, another pioneer was just such a farmer. At one time he owned all the land along Park Blvd between Central Expressway and the Dallas North Tollway.

The Haggard Farm on Park Blvd at Custer Rd in Plano.

The family raised sheep and donkeys and also grew cotton. In 1872, the Houston and Texas Central Railway came through town and opened the market for their crops. In 1888, the St. Louis, Arkansas, and Texas Railway came through and made Plano a nerve center of commerce. The city was located in between McKinney and Dallas. 

In 1908, the interurban railway came to Plano. It was a passenger train that ran from Denison to Dallas and Waco. The train ran from 1908 to 1948. As cars became more common, ridership on the train went down. The depot is now the Interurban Railway Museum. It's free and well worth a visit. It's right next to the Plano Dart station.

This is Texas Electric Railway Car 360, manufactured in 1911 by the American Car Company of St. Louis. Originally  it was numbered car 11. The car measures 56 feet 10 inches long by 9 feet wide by 12 feet 9 inches high. Car 11 weighed 85,180 pounds, accommodated 62 passengers and was outfitted with 4GE73 Motors and 27MCB3X Brill trucks. In 1913, car 11 was renumbered to 360. In 1932, the car was modified to a rail postal office under specifications provided by the United States Post Office and is the last remaining example of a Texas Electric RPO. This car remined in service until the system ceased operation on December 31, 1948. I was told that this car was sitting on a farm being used for hay storage before it was donated to the museum and fully restored. This is one of the things you can see at the museum.

The W. R. George Building was built in 1896. William Ross George came to Plano from Kentucky in the late 1800's. This building housed his saddle and harness shop. In 2009, it was completely restored and now houses The Urban Crust and has a marvelous rooftop bar.

This building used to house the Mathews Department store. In 1906, Sidney Mathews opened this store and sold "most everything" from furniture to hardware to millinery. His wife and daughters used to make hats that were available for sale at this store. Now it's an event venue. 

Right next to that is the Louise Bagwell Sherrill Building which was originally the Farmers & Merchants Bank Building. Louise Bagwell Sherrill used to own the Plano Star Courier so I can only assume that at one point it housed the paper.

Back in 1885, the WD McFarlin building housed a grocery store. Later, it housed a Pharmacy owned by E.A Carpenter who was the son of RW Carpenter (for whom a school has been named). Edward was a pharmacist and, in 1895, bought the Schoolfield Pharmacy which was also located in this building. In 1908, he sold his business to the Allen Brothers.

This building was erected in 1895 after a fire destroyed the original building. It was shared space for the Plano First National Bank and the International Order of Odd Fellows Lodge. It was restored with this facade in 1936 and then updated again in 1958. When the Schell family bought the building they restored it back to the 1930's art deco facade. I read that the old bank vault is now a conference room. How cool to take all your calls there!

The Plano Lodge No 768 was built in 1898 and then restored in 1925. The Mason's still use this lodge today.

This is the First Christian Church of Plano, established in the mid-1850's by the daughter of William Forman (remember him?). The first church was a small building on the Barnett farm that was also used as a school. As the congregation grew so did the need for larger sanctuaries.  

In 1889, Henry and JM Carlisle opened the Plano Grocery Company at this location. It grew to be the largest grocery store in Collin County. They carried grain, hay, cotton seed, stapes and groceries. Sadly, the store closed in the 1930's, a victim of the Great Depression. Now this building is a mixed use multi-family/retail building.

This is the Aldridge House built in 1918 for CC and Elizabeth Aldridge. The marker states that the original house on this lot (built in 1890) was either demolished or completely rebuilt. CC Aldridge had a seed farm and believed in extending credit to farmers. He was a civic leader in his time as well. The house is privately owned. I always think I'd like to live in a historic house but then people like me would come by taking photos.

This is the Saigling House which currently holds the Art Center of Plano. It was built in 1918 by Celestine Saigling. In 1895, her husband Charles opened the Plano Milling Company. They milled flour, oats, bran and cornmeal to name a few things.

On this site in 1882 the Plano Institute was built. This would be before there was any school system in Plano. In 1891, the city took over. This building was built in 1924. After the school closed, the district took over the building to use as an administrative building.

In 1935, right next door to the school, the WPA built this gymnasium. Now it's an auditorium and its right across the street from Haggard Park.

So much history right up the street! Who knew? Now you do. Check it out!