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Denton County,
North Central Texas
HEBRON – A Ghost Town That Isn’t
by Robin Jett
Denton
Hotels
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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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The church in Hebron
Photo by Robin Jett, 10-4 |
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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