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History
in a Pecan Shell
Preston grew near present-day Pottsboro,
Texas on a bluff of the Red River. Originally a trading
post established by Holland Coffee
and Silas Colville, the town was such a violent place that Coffee was murdered
there in 1846.
Also known as Preston Bend, despite its location
on a bluff, the town was a major crossing on the Red River with a reported 1,000
wagons crossing there in a single year. The town was the end of the Indian Nation's
Texas Road and there was a heavy traffic in liquor. Two early ferries were in
operation around 1850. The town formed its own government in 1851.
For
its first two years the town was the location of an Army depot and except for
the violent element, the town seemed destined for growth. But rival towns grew
stronger faster and the main crossing of the river shifted to Colbert’s Ferry,
eclipsing Preston.
Old Preston was nearly forgotten by 1870, and
a newer Preston developed a short distance away. The “New” Preston didn’t
fully develop as a town, but did serve as the center of a scattered community.
With two churches, a school, cotton gin and post office (granted in 1880, closed
by 1914) Preston remained in place while the site of Old Preston was purchased
in the late 1930s for the construction of Texoma
Dam (completed 1944). The population of “New” Preston was 325 residents for
the 2000 census.
Preston,
Texas Area Hotels
Denison
Hotels |
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Site of the Trading Post of Holland Coffee
FM 120 at Preston Cemetery
1936 Texas Centennial marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2007 |
Centennial
marker close-up
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2007 |
Centennial
Marker TextSite
of the Trading Post of Holland CoffeeEstablished
about 1837 for trade with the Indians of the Red River region and the western
plains. Here many white captives of the Red Men were redeemed. From its vicinity
the Snively Expedition set
out for New Mexico on April 25, 1843. Abandoned after Coffee's death in 1846.
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Sophia
Porter Historical Marker
FM 120 - Preston Cemetery
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2007 |
Historical
Marker TextConfederate
Lady Paul Revere
Sophia
Porter(1813-1899)
Settled 1839 at Glen Eden,
a site now under Lake Texoma,
north of here. Husband, Holland Coffee, early trader, built fine home, welcomed
1845-60, U. S. Army officers including Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant.
During
Civil War, wined and dined passing Federal scouts, found out they were seeking
Col. Jas. Bourland, Confederate defender of Texas frontier. While guests were
busy, she slipped out, swam her horse across icy Red River, warned Col. Bourland,
helped prevent Federal invasion of North
Texas. |
Photographer's
Note:
Here's the
over all scene at Preston historical marker. While looking for it, I was about
to give up as no one living around there (that I could find) knew where it was.
I pulled into the driveway of the Preston Cemetery and stopped to look at my maps,
and just looked to my left and it was 50' away. - Mike
Price, April 02, 2010 |
1940s
Grayson County map showing Preston (NW of Denison)
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office | |
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