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Denton
County, North Central Texas
HEBRON – A Ghost Town That Isn’tby
Robin Jett
Denton
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Remnants
of old township - First Street scene
Photo by Robin
Jett, 10-4 |
Smack-dab
in the suburban sprawl between Plano and Carrollton
At intersection of FM 3040 (Hebron Parkway) and FM 544 (West Park Boulevard)
22 miles northeast of Dallas
Suburban sprawl have taken over the vast prairies north of Dallas,
and nowhere is that more evident than when one wants to find the remains of towns
that have simply vanished under concrete and incorporation aspirations. Renner
in Dallas County is a good example of one of these lost towns: today it exists
only as the name of a busy thoroughfare. Its 1888 school graces the collection
of buildings on display at Old City Park near downtown Dallas,
and that’s pretty much all you’ll be able to find of this old farming community.
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Hebron
is another lost town. The town exists, at least in theory - an impressive beaux-arts
church still graces the crossroads that mark the town, and First Street retains
some old store facades (now in disuse). But because of the development of extreme
southeastern Denton County – Hebron lies so close to the sprawl of Plano
that if you spit, you’re liable to hit someone’s Prada shoes – the town is nothing
more than a speck in the road.
Hebron, the earliest settlement in Denton
County, came to life as an offshoot of the Peters Colony, a group of land hungry
pioneers who were the first Anglos to attempt farming on the Grand Prairie. By
1890, Hebron had a post office, and the tracks laid in the early 20th century
are still in use today. At the height of its township, Hebron had a population
of 468. But with aggressive suburban growth threatening it from all sides, Hebron
found its growth limited. Today its hemmed in by both Plano
and Carrollton, and due to their sprawl, Hebron
is now more populated than ever.
So, Hebron technically still exits.
The street that runs through it – FM 3040 – bears its name. The church is well
attended, though a slew of mega-churches have popped up all around it, siphoning
off at least a few parishioners. The new high school, completed in 1999 and part
of the Lewisville Independent School District, is named after the little town.
On a detailed city or county map, you can even identify Hebron’s boundaries. But
the town itself, from which flowed the majority of Anglo settlement of Denton
County, is now but a distant memory.
© Robin Jett
December 11, 2004
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