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GUN
BARREL CITY, TEXASTown
Slogan: "We Shoot Straight with You" Henderson
County, East
Texas
FM 85 (off US175)
58 miles SE of Dallas
20 miles NW of Athens
Population:
(est) 4,000 |
History
in a Pecan Shell
Gun Barrel City, despite the frontier-sounding name, has only been around
since the 1960s when the Cedar Creek Reservoir was built. The population
was only 60 in 1970, and the people voted on incorporation so that the town could
sell beer.
The name originated from Gun Barrel Lane, which has become
State Highway 198. It was a shortcut connecting Mabank and Seven Points and we
think it's safe to assume the reference was to the relatively straight nature
of the road.
Our source, The Handbook of Texas Online, reports
that the community has won second place (twice) in the Governor's Community Achievement
Awards.
Fishing is not mandatory, but it's more of a lifestyle
than a recreation in Gun Barrel City. Remember their motto is "We shoot straight
WITH you." Not "We shoot straight AT you." (Houston's unofficial motto).
Where
to Stay > Gun
Barrel City Hotels |
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Barrel City water tower
Photo courtesy Jason Penney |
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Gun Barrel CityFrom
"Cut
and Shoot, Gun Barrel City, Gunsight, Point Blank and Winchester"by Mike
Cox
The stereotypical
Texan is seldom gun shy when it comes to settling a difficulty with violence,
a mythology reflected in the number of Lone Star
communities with names evocative of rough and tumble ways.
At least
five such towns come to mind: Cut
and Shoot, Gun Barrel City, Gunsight,
Point
Blank and Winchester...
Gun Barrel City is in Henderson County, about 20 miles northwest of Athens.
As Texas towns go, it’s not very old, having started during the building of Cedar
Creek Reservoir in the 1960s. Since then, you might say Gun Barrel City has grown
faster than a speeding bullet, shooting from a population of 60 in 1970 to 5,000-plus
in 2000.
Many a barroom denizen has learned the hard way that gunpowder
and alcohol do not mix, but Gun Barrel City was incorporation to facilitate the
legal sale of beer and wine.
The town got its name from its motto, “We
shoot straight with you.” The town’s symbol, of course, is a rifle. But, as the
Handbook of Texas Online points out, a roadway known as Gun Barrel Lane cut through
the area well before the lake was there. Since the road represented a short cut
from Mabank to Seven Points, the Gun Barrel descriptor might have had to do with
its straightness between A and B...more |
Naming of
Gun Barrel City I
believe some of your information on Gun Barrel City in Texas is mistaken, of course
it's all in who you ask. But a man by the name of J. C. Waits named the town.
After his death is wife and stepson continued to run the first beer store until
her death in 1990 I believe.- T.L. Fox, September 10, 2003 |
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