Lewisville

by Robin Cole-Jett

Overview

Originally known as Holford's Prairie, Lewisville's name is not the only thing that has changed about this town in its long history. Settlers sponsored by the Peters Colony Company founded the small community in the 1840s. In the ensuing years, the settlement, renamed to Lewisville by Basdeal W. Lewis in 1856, consistently grew and prospered until its incorporation in 1925. Cotton farming and ginning, the arrival of the Dallas and Wichita Railroad in 1881, the expansion of Lake Dallas into Lake Lewisville in 1954, and the opening of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 1974 ensured that Lewisville became an important commercial center in booming North Texas. Throughout its phenomenal growth, however, Lewisville still retained the charm and bonds of its farm-centered past. Today Lewisville boasts the largest population and school district in Denton County and serves as a suburb for the bustling Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738579931
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	04/25/2011
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,056,033
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Native Texan Robin Cole-Jett writes travel guides and teaches history at area colleges. This book utilizes oral histories from the Lewisville Public Library and photographs culled from private collections, local newspapers and libraries, and the Denton County Museums.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments? 6

Introduction 7

1 Farmers on the Prairie: Early Lewisville 9

2 Farmers in the City: Growing Lewisville 49

3 Fighting Farmers of Lewisville: Scholarly Lewisville 77

4 Farmers on the Water: Lake Lewisville 97

5 Farms No More: Modern Lewisville 113

Editorial Reviews

Title: Highland Village resident writes book on Lewisville history

Author: Dan Eakin

Publisher: Lewisville Leader

Date: 6/7/2011



A Highland Village woman has written a book about Lewisville that traces the history of the city from the farmers who tilled the soil to the Farmers who have won championships and scholarships.



Robin Cole-Jett's "Images of America: Lewisville" tells about a farming community that grew to be one of the largest cities in the Metroplex. The book is loaded with hundreds of pictures showing how the residents of early Lewisville dressed, worked, played and moved from place to place within their small town.



The book is divided into five chapters: 1. Farmers on the Prairie: Early Lewisville; 2. Farmers in the City: Growing Lewisville; 3. Fighting Farmers of Lewisville: Scholarly Lewisville; 4. Farmers on the Water: Lake Lewisville; and 5. Farms No More: Modern Lewisville.



Cole-Jett said Lewisville first formed as a community near the McGee Cemetery but moved eastward to where more water was available. She said Lewisville had the first gristmill in Denton County where people brought their corn to be ground into meal. Later the small town also had two cotton gins and two flour mills. Mill Street originally went to one of those mills.



The author, who teaches U.S. history at North Central Texas College, will give a lecture about the book from 12:15 to 1 p.m. June 17 at the Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum in Denton.



In addition to the book about Lewisville, Cole-Jett has two other books already on the market, "Traveling History With Bonnie & Clyde" and "Traveling History Up the Cattle Trails." She will soon release another book, "Traveling History of Red River Valley Ghost Towns."



She said people who want to travel to historic sites can use her books as a guide to take them to the different historic places.



Her book about Bonnie and Clyde details where they grew up, where they robbed banks and committed other crimes, where their hideouts were and where they were killed.



The author grew up in Paris, Texas, just a few miles south of the Red River, and moved with her husband, Raymond, to Lewisville in 1997. They and their son, David, 12, recently moved to Highland Village.



She said she first became interested in studying history at the age of 4, when her sister found a part of an old tombstone. She also maintains a website, www.redriverhistorian.com, which offers information about history and how to get copies of her books. Her books are also available via Amazon and by special order with Barnes & Noble Bookstores.



There will be no charge for those who wish to hear her lecture June 17. The Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum is at 110 W. Hickory St. in Denton. The lecture will be in the Commissioners Courtroom and the entrance is on the north side of the building.

From the Publisher