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WESTMINSTER,
TEXAS
Collin County,
North Central Texas
FM 3133 and FM 2862
18 miles SE of Sherman
18 miles NE of McKinney
51 miles NE of Dallas
Population:
390 (2000)
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Downtown Westminster
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Originally called Seven Points after it was established around
1860, it merged with neighboring Prospect and Graybill
Texas in the 1880s. In the 1890s the Methodist Church established
Westminster College for training ministers. The name was after Westminster,
Maryland. Within a year Seven Points citizens decided to change the
name.
In 1899 a post office opened. Westminster served as a cotton market
through the 1920s when the population was estimated to be around 600.
The town was bypassed by railroads and during the Great Depression
the population dropped to less than 300. |
First State
Bank
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006 |
Post office
in Westminster
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006 |
After WWII Dallas
drew off population, leaving less than 200 people. It has slowly increased
to the current estimate of 390.
Westminster was hit by a tornado in April of 2006.
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Westminster,
Texas Forum
Subject:
Recollections of "days-gone-by"
Dear TE, Prior to 1928 my mother, Ruby Lee McFerrin (Hall) worked
in the 1st National Bank in Westminister. The head of the bank was
Mr. Procter. After the bank closed my grandfather, Claude McFerrin,
moved his grocery store from the other side of the square to the
bank building. He continued to operate the store until the early
1950's. He sold the store to his brother-in-law Francis Sellars
and wife Jennie.
In the 1920's Westminister was a thriving community. On the east
side of the square there was a general merchandise store on the
1st floor. The barbershop was in the same building as the general
merchandise store and also served as a meeting place for local musicians.
Next to the barbershop Rob McCarley had a grocery store. The entire
2nd floor was one big open room that served as a basketball court.
My uncle, Choice McFerrin loved to play basketball there. On the
west side of the bank was a café that did not fare well. On the
other side of the bank was a drug store with a licensed pharmacist.
On the west side of the square was a casket sales store, next to
that was the post office, and on the corner was Griffin's Store.
The post master was Mr. John Easton. The next post master was named
Griffin.
During this time period there were 3 different churches in Westminister.
They were Church of Christ, Baptist, and Methodist. The Methodist's
had a brush arbor that was used by all the different churches during
the summer revival meetings. - Cary W. Hall, San Antonio, TX,
February 25, 2007
Dear TE, The
building shown as the First State Bank was originally my uncle's
grocery store. His name was Ben Cowling and for years it was the
only grocery in town. I know he ran it from the early 1960's through
to the 1990's... - Thank you, Tricia Dennie, January 30, 2007
Anyone wishing to share history, stories or photos of Westminster,
Texas, please contact
us
© John Troesser
More Barclay Gibson
Photos
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