History of McKinney, TX

McKinney was originally part of Peter’s Colony, where pioneers braved harsh conditions in 1841 after being offered free land, guns, and cabin-building assistance. In 1846, Collin County was carved out of Fannin County and named after Collin McKinney, a pioneer, land surveyor, and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Although the original county seat was Buckner, a legislative rule requiring the seat to sit near the geographic center of the county triggered a vote between the modern site of McKinney and Sloan’s Grove. Heavy rains blocked Sloan’s Grove voters, and the town was officially established as the county seat on March 16, 1848.

Early growth was hindered by difficult transportation conditions, as native grasses only fed grazing animals when green and fertile soil turned into impassable quagmires during rainstorms. The arrival of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad in 1872 changed everything, stimulating a period of unprecedented expansion by allowing reliable movement of people and agricultural goods. Over the next five decades, cotton emerged as a major revenue source, supported by a growing number of gins, a compress operating until the mid-1980s, and The Texas Cotton Mill Company founded in 1910. The region also became a top producer of corn, wheat, and oats, driving a thriving grain processing industry.