Denison Katy Railroad Strongbox — Grayson County

The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad reached Denison in late 1872; the first train arrived Christmas Eve. Denison incorporated in 1873 with over 3,000 residents by summer, while Sherman's civic leaders had failed to subscribe a bonus large enough to attract the Katy terminal. Denison became the county's rail and marketing town, with a tent city of saloons and gambling halls surrounding orderly Main Street. By 1889 Denison had five banks, two cotton compresses, a large flour mill, and an opera house seating 1,200. Railroad-boom folklore imagines paymaster chests and merchant strongboxes near Katy depots when cattle and cotton receipts flowed through Red River City. Coordinates mark downtown Denison.