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MELISSA,
TEXASCollin County,
North Central Texas
Highways 75, 121and FM 545
7 miles NE of McKinney
Population
1,355 (2000)
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"...the
truck broke down one day and he just left it there."
Photo Courtesy Justin Parson |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Melissa
settlement began in the 1840s although the town didn't really take
off until the Houston and Texas Central Railway arrived in the early
1870s. The towns namesake is not certain since there were two railroad
executives with daughters named Melissa. The town's railroad connection
drew off population from Highland, Texas, a small community about
2.5 miles north of Melissa.
A post office was granted in the first half of 1873 and by 1884 the
town had a population estimated at 100.
Melissa was on the line of the first Texas Interurban line (the Texas
Electric Railway) which ran from Denison
to Dallas beginning in 1908.
The population increased to 400 by 1914. Melissa's connection to the
electric railway insured that the town was "wired" and the townspeople
also benefited from paved roads and a telephone exchange - all of
this infrastructure installed prior to 1920.
Melissa had all essential businesses plus a fully-enrolled school.
As a shipping point, Melissa sent out 3,000 bales of cotton each year
from two cotton gins. Disaster appeared in 1921 in the form of a tornado.
In April of that year thirteen people were killed and both businesses
and residences were destroyed. To make matters worse, a fire raged
through town eight years later consuming many of the replacement buildings.
Growth was curtailed by the Great Depression, mechanized farming and
Defense industry jobs available in Dallas
during WWII. |
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"The
Cadillac was out in the woods in the middle of nowhere...
...the landowner
said it's been there since she was a little girl."
Photo Courtesy
Justin Parson
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From
500 people in the mid 1920s, Melissa declined to less than 300 by
1949. It increased to 375 by the mid 1960s and to just over 600 in
1980. The 2000 Census shows a substantial increase to over 1,300.
Melissa,
Texas Forum
Anyone
wishing to share stories or photos of Melissa, Texas, please contact
us.
© John Troesser
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