Overview of the north Texas region encompassing Collin, Denton, Fannin, and Grayson Counties for potential visitors, including information about the landscape and climate, the farming and ranching industries, notable persons and businesses, and other information about the area. A description appeared in The Sunday Gazetteer [Denison, TX, Dec. 19, 1886, p.3] which described it: "This book is a quarto volume handsomely gotten up in pamphlet form, and elaborately illustrated with wood engravings. It gives short biographical sketches of prominent men of North Texas, and also pen and pencil pictures of various stock farms, business houses and private residences of the cities and surrounding country of Denison, Sherman Gainesville, Denton, Honey Grove, McKinney, etc., as well as the more important ones of the Indian Nation." Another article that appeared in the Denton Record-Chronicle on Feb. 19, 1927, section 9, p.1, hints to the provenance of the library's copy. It states that, the C. C. Bell household had a copy because "Bell is one of the land-owners who paid at the rate of about $30 per photo to be represented in the 40-page bulletin." The C. C. Bell homestead was, "east of what is now Bell Avenue...was later destroyed by fire." A final mention shows up in a local newsletter, The Denton Doings, March 1956 issue. "In an old trunk in the May Bell Pirtle home, Helen Harris found a remarkable book. Ms. Harris has graciously loaded this 70-year-old book to us..." May Bell Pirtle was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. C. Bell. We believe that the book was then donated to the Emily Fowler Library shortly after her death. The pamphlet appeared to have been privately published, with the only copies being owned by those who appeared within. This is just our best guess based on the lack of published information in Texas newspapers from that time period.
Place Name coordinates. (May be approximate.)
Place Name coordinates. (May be approximate.)
