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VAN
ALSTYNE, TEXASGrayson
County, North
Central Texas
Highways 5 and 75, and FM 121
12 miles S of Sherman
Population: 2,502
(2000) |
| History in
a Pecan Shell
The present town of Van Alstyne was formed by residents of a town named Mantua
when their community was bypassed by the Houston and Texas Central Railway railroad
in 1872. The new town was either named after a railroad stockholder (Marie Van
Alstyne) or William A. Van Alstyne, the railroad's surveyor.
A post office
was opened in 1873 and the town's population was 400 in 1890. Ten years later
the population was nearing 2,000. It's population declined slightly during the
first years of the 20th Century but remained strong with all essential business
intact. By the mid 1930s it was back up to 1,453 and rose slightly to 1,650 in
the late 1940s. |
| Another
Van Alstyne downtown scene | |
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