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DECATUR,
TEXAS
"Eighter from
Decatur, County Seat of Wise" - gambling epithet
Wise County
Seat, North Central Texas
Highways 287 and 380
27 miles SE of Bowie
27 miles W of Denton
40 miles NW of Fort
Worth
Population:
5,201 (2000) 4,245 (1990)
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Wise
County Courthouse
Photo courtesy Sam Fenstermacher |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Wise County was established in 1856 and named after Virginian Henry
A. Wise who supported Texas annexation.
The town was originally called Taylorsville after The Mexican
War Hero Gen. Zachary Taylor, but was changed in 1858 to honor Stephen
Decatur, Revolutionary War naval hero. The town was platted by early
settler Absalom Bishop who became a member of the Texas Legislature.
A post office was opened in 1857 and the first school was opened that
same year. Decatur was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail.
During the Civil War, 5 members of the Unionist Peace party were tried
and executed in Decatur in 1862.
The last Indian raids occurred around 1874 and by 1882 the Fort Worth
and Denver Railway laid tracks to town. The population tripled from
579 in 1880 to 1,746 in 1890.
Decatur's population high-water mark was in 1928 when 3,200 lived
there, but commuters from Fort
Worth have recently boosted the growth to where it now stands
at over 5,000.
Wise County Courthouse
The first county courthouse was erected in 1858 and three more followed
in 1861, 1883 and 1896... more |
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Wise
County Courthouse Tower and the Coca-Cola sign
Photo by John Troesser Feb. 2004 |
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Decatur
Masonic Building and Water Tower
On the northwest corner of the square. This is one of two water towers
that're set behind the Masonic Building. - SF
Photo courtesy Sam Fenstermacher, March 2004 |
Nearby
Destinations
Lake Bridgeport - off US Highway 380 west of Decatur.
On the West Fork Trinity River in Jack and Wise counties. |
Decatur
Tourist Information
Decatur
Chamber of Commerce
- (940) 627-3107
P.O. Box 474, 1200-C S. FM 51, Decatur, Texas 76234
http://www.decaturtx.com/
City of
Decatur - http://www.decaturtx.org/
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