The Stories Collin County Forgot to Notice

Every time I drive through Princeton, I pass the same brown sign.

You probably know the kind. White lettering. An arrow pointing toward something that’s apparently very important. A quick reminder from the State of Texas that history of some sort happened here. Usually, I glance at it and keep driving. Life has a funny way of convincing us that whatever is at the end of the arrow can wait until another day.

A few weeks ago, another day finally arrived.

The sign pointed toward the Princeton POW camp, so I decided to follow it. After a few turns, I arrived at a familiar site: J.M. Caldwell Sr. Community Park. As most people in Princeton know, baseball diamonds and soccer pitches stretch across the property. 

When I arrived, parents sat in folding chairs watching youth baseball and soccer games while coaches barked instructions from dugouts. It looked like the type of scene that plays out every weekend in communities across Texas.

Then I remembered why I was there. I started my quest to find the prisoner-of-war camp. The problem was that there wasn’t much to find.

After wandering around the complex for a few minutes, I finally found the historical marker. It wasn’t standing prominently at the entrance or positioned where every visitor would naturally see it. Instead, it sat underneath a pavilion, tucked away from the baseball fields that draw hundreds of people to the park every weekend.

As I stood there reading about German prisoners of war who once lived on that property, the contrast was impossible to ignore. Life was happening all around the marker, yet not a single person except for me seemed to notice that it existed.

Whether they had seen it before, were focused on the game or simply didn’t notice it, life continued around this small piece of history without a second glance.

That’s not meant as a criticism. It’s human nature. Most of us don’t spend our weekends thinking about what happened on a patch of land 80 years ago. But standing there, watching hundreds of  people enjoy a beautiful afternoon while a World War II story sat quietly beneath a pavilion, I couldn’t help but wonder how many important stories throughout Collin County are hiding in plain sight.

The answer is probably more than we’d like to admit.

This isn’t because the stories aren’t important. It’s because Collin County has become one of the fastest-growing regions in America. New neighborhoods appear overnight, roads that once connected small farming communities now carry thousands of commuters and entire sections of the county are almost unrecognizable compared to a decade ago.

That’s why historical markers matter. They serve as reminders that the places we consider ordinary today weren’t always ordinary.

The Princeton POW Camp may be the best example of this phenomenon anywhere in Collin County. Long before baseball tournaments and community events filled the property, the site served as a migrant labor camp built in 1940 to house workers who traveled to Princeton to harvest cotton and onions. During 1945, the facility briefly became a prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers captured during World War II. Today, one of the most visible remnants of that era is an old, rusted 30,000-gallon water tower that still stands nearby. Beyond that, there is little to suggest the role the site once played in both local agriculture and global conflict.

Eighty years ago, German prisoners spent their days on that property. Today, children play baseball and soccer while parents cheer from the stands. They represent different chapters of the same story. The challenge is ensuring earlier chapters aren’t forgotten because newer ones have become more visible. 

It’s a conversation that extends far beyond Princeton.

That concern has already caught the attention of Princeton leaders, who have discussed ways to better preserve and document local history before significant sites and artifacts are lost to growth.

Drive a few miles to the southwest to Wylie and you’ll find another example of history hiding in plain sight. Every day, thousands of drivers cross railroad tracks running through the heart of town. Most don’t think much about them. 

Yet the railroad is the whole reason Wylie exists.

Like many communities throughout North Texas and the United States, Wylie grew because of the railroad. The arrival of the tracks brought transportation, commerce and opportunity – the holy trinity of growth. Businesses and families followed the tracks, forming a town that more than a century later is one of the largest in the entire county. And although most of Wylie’s original landscape has changed, the tracks remain. The trains that interrupt traffic today are descendants of the very thing that made the community possible in the first place.

That’s what makes historical markers so fascinating. They force us to look at familiar places differently. The railroad tracks aren’t just railroad tracks anymore. They’re a reminder that cities don’t simply appear out of thin air. They are built, often by people whose names have long since disappeared from public memory.

The same idea becomes even more apparent when visiting Sugar Hill near Farmersville.

Unlike Princeton or Wylie, there isn’t much left to see. There are no baseball fields. There’s no bustling downtown with shops and restaurants. There’s no active railroad spurring commerce and transportation. In fact, if not for the historical marker sitting near the road, most people would have no reason to believe anything significant ever stood there.

Long before Farmersville became one of the most important communities in eastern Collin County, Sugar Hill was the area’s center of commerce. Established around 1849 near the intersection of two major roads, the community grew around a store owned by Captain John Yeary. 

Its location made it a natural gathering place for settlers moving into the region, and by 1857 Sugar Hill had become a thriving frontier community. If not for a tragic incident one Christmas Eve, perhaps Sugar Hill would still be on the map.

On Dec. 24, 1854, a fight broke out at a local saloon. By the time the dust settled, Yeary was dead and another one of his sons was also killed while pursuing the men responsible. Two other innocent bystanders also lost their lives.

In the aftermath, many of Sugar Hill’s merchants wanted to distance themselves from the town’s blood-stained reputation. Rather than rebuild in the same place, they moved away and established a new settlement: Farmersville.

Today, Farmersville – not Sugar Hill – has an established downtown, historic buildings and a population measured in the thousands. Yet the community’s origins can be traced back to a town that no longer exists. Now all that’s left is a historical marker.

The Princeton POW Camp, Wylie’s railroad marker and Sugar Hill tell different stories, but they point toward the same reality: history rarely disappears all at once. It fades quietly as generations pass, landscapes change and memories give way to new chapters. That’s especially true in a place like Collin County, where growth has transformed communities at a remarkable pace. While progress isn’t the enemy of history, it can make it easier to overlook.

Maybe that’s the real purpose of a historical marker. It’s not to teach a history lesson or test somebody’s knowledge of local trivia – it’s simply a reminder to look a little closer. Because sometimes a baseball field is more than a baseball field. Sometimes a railroad track is more than a railroad track. Sometimes an empty patch of land is all that’s left of a town.

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, perhaps there’s no better time to follow the arrow on the brown sign or pull over to that historical marker and discover the stories that have been hiding in plain sight all along. 

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Allred held a telephone town hall with Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins on Aug. 31. Also on the call was Dr. Trish Perl, Division Chief of Infectious Disease of UT Southwestern, and Dr. Roberto De La Cruz of Parkland Hospital.

For the full story, see our September 9 issue or subscribe online.

By Dustin Butler • [email protected]

Following a public hearing, council adopted the 2021-22 budget and tax rate. However, because it is under the No-New-Revenue rate, a public hearing was not required. 

The budget can be found on the city’s website.

Police Chief Bryan Sylvester presented changes to the city’s school zone ordinance that would remove the listed times to give the city better flexibility should the school district change starting and end times. The changes also removed color requirements for flashing lights at school zones and will now allow for white flashing lights. Council voted unanimously to approve the ordinance.

In the last order of business, council accepted the resignation of City Secretary Michelle Lewis Sirianni, who took a position with the town of Prosper.

The next city council meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at City Hall and will be streamed over the city’s website.

At the time of this writing, there are over 700 persons on the vaccine waitlist.

Officials have not been provided a time timetable for future doses but will resume vaccination as soon as additional doses are received.

Due to the limited number of doses, residents should call ahead and schedule an appointment.

Vaccine providers are SandsRX and the Wylie Fire Station No. 3 in Wylie and Brookshires Pharmacy in Farmersville.

For more information on the coronavirus vaccine distribution plan, visit dshs.texas.gov.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]

The crews will work southbound until they reach the Dallas County line. They will then move northbound into Wylie.

During repairs, various lanes will be closed for travel, however, at least one lane will remain open. Lanes will be closed from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Construction is expected to last several weeks, and drivers should anticipate delays.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]

“I will never ask any Texan to do something that I’m not willing to do myself,” Abbott said before getting vaccinated at a televised event in Austin.

The next round of vaccines will go to people 65 and older and to those who are at greatest risk of severe disease and death from COVID-19. More than 70 percent of COVID-19 deaths in Texas have occurred in people 65 or older, Texas Department of State Health Services offi­cials said in announcing the updated priority list.

“The focus on people who are age 65 and older or who have comorbidities will protect the most vulnerable popula­tions,” said Imelda Garcia, Ex­pert Vaccine Allocation Panel chairwoman. “This approach ensures that Texans at the most severe risk from COVID-19 can be protected across races and ethnicities and regardless of where they work.”

The state is in Phase 1A of vaccine distribution, which in­cludes residents of long-term care centers and front-line health care workers. With an estimated 1.9 million Texans in those groups, it will likely be at least two weeks people in Phase 1B can get the vaccine.

The Phase 1B priorities are below, and additional informa­tion is available at dshs.texas.gov:

• People 65 years of age and older
• People 16 years of age and older with at least one chron­ic medical condition that puts them at increased risk for se­vere illness from the virus that causes COVID-19, such as but not limited to cancer, chronic kidney disease, chronic ob­structive pulmonary disease, heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies; solid organ transplantation, severe obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell disease and type 2 diabetes.

Capitol to reopen

Closed since March, the Texas Capitol will reopen Jan. 4, about a week before the 87th Legislature convenes.

In announcing the reopen­ing, Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Pat­rick and House Speaker Dennis Bonnen said safety protocols have been put in place to main­tain a safe environment for all visitors, lawmakers and staff.

“Preparations to safely con­duct business in the Texas House and Senate are ongoing, and each chamber will vote upon their respective rules and protocols at the start of the leg­islative session,” the officials said in a statement.

The session opens at noon Jan. 12.

Also last week, Austin and Travis County officials, alarmed by a spike in cas­es, raised the community’s COVID-19 risk warning to its highest level since the pandem­ic began. Under the Stage 5 risk warning, the local officials are asking people not to gath­er with anyone outside their household and to limit their trips outside homes to essential ones such as going to the gro­cery store or work.

Dr. Mark Escott, Aus­tin-Travis County interim health authority, said the Stage 5 warning was necessary even though the hospital system in Austin remained stable.

“When you see smoke, are you fully alarmed and call the fire department, or do you wait until the flames roll down the hallway?” he told KXAN-TV. “What we’ve learned over and over again … if you wait to pull the alarm until the hospitals are full, that surge will contin­ue until the hospitals, and the morgues, are overwhelmed.”

State vs. local CARES money

The state of Texas is not liv­ing up to its promise of allo­cating federal pandemic relief funds to local governments, an advocacy group contends.

After Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act in March, Gov. Abbott said $1.85 billion of the fund­ing Texas received would go toward supporting local gov­ernments. However, advocacy group Texas Housers said its analysis shows the state has not delivered.

The local governments are supposed to apply through a reimbursement process admin­istered by the Texas Division of Emergency Management, ac­cording to a May 11 letter from the governor.

“Since the letter, TDEM has stymied local governments at every turn,” Houser officials said in a statement. “Although the process should have been a clean handoff of resources spe­cifically earmarked for cities and counties, money has been complicated for local govern­ments to access and has flowed slowly or not at all.”

A Texas emergency manage­ment official has said the larg­est barrier to reimbursement has been local governments not submitting the correct documents. Also, some of the CARES money has been spent on state projects that benefit cities and counties.

By Chris Cobler, board member and past president of the Freedom of In­formation Foundation of Texas • [email protected]

“None of us have ever ex­perienced ‘distance learning’ in our school system the way today’s children are,” said Tim Lee, executive director of the Texas Retired Teachers Asso­ciation and its charitable part­ner organization, TRTF. “We’re already seeing an impact on their academic readiness and success, and we decided to take action. By partnering with peer-tutoring platform Knack, the TRTF Tutor Program aims to be the largest community of retired teacher tutors in Texas and the U.S.”

The Foundation’s tutoring service will engage retired Tex­as public school teachers who have the experience, time, and dependability needed to en­gage with students of all ages and educational needs. Retired teachers onboard the platform will be able to earn extra in­come to support their retire­ment and general costs of liv­ing. The average TRS monthly pension is $2,000 per month, and most Texas retired teachers do not receive Social Security benefits.

The Texas Retired Teach­ers Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to helping active and retired educators with their fi­nancial needs. The TRTF offers three programs to assist educa­tors, and designates more than $25,000 per year towards pub­lic education.

School students using the platform will receive the edu­cational support they need as they adapt to virtual learning environments that have quick­ly become the primary mode of education for most Texas families; and parents gain ac­cess to reduced cost, reliable tutoring services focused on empowering students to suc­ceed. As part of the program launch, TRTF is currently un­dertaking an ambitious $10 million fundraising effort to donate 250,000 hours of tutor­ing to Texas schools.

“These are unprecedented times,” Lee said. “We have a re­sponsibility to think bigger and do more than ever. Just imagine the difference we can make to­gether by connecting thousands of Texas retired teachers with our students and schools. TRTF is also calling on all interested TRS retirees to consider being a tutor on the platform. Our be­lief is that demand will be very high, and we want to rise up and meet the challenge.”

To learn more and sign-up for the program, visit www.trtf.org.

For mores stories like this, see our Dec. 31 issue or subscribe online.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]

First Day Hikes is an annual event at Texas’ state parks and natural areas that aims to help visitors commit to their New Year’s resolutions to get healthy. Last year, 5,242 visitors ushered in 2020 by hiking, biking and riding a total of 9,564 miles statewide.

For those in Collin County, Bonham State Park is offering a self-paced hiking event Friday, Jan. 1. Enjoy a self-paced hike along the park’s roadway or get out on the trails and see their historic CCC structures. Meet their volunteers along the way and learn about the park’s history and natural resources.

To help with social distancing, many hikes will be self-guided while guided hikes may limit the number of participants.

“If nothing else, 2020 has shown us the value of getting outdoors,” Director of Texas State Parks Rodney Franklin said. “Personally, I am looking forward to saying goodbye to 2020, having some black-eyed peas and starting out the new year with a First Day Hike. Spending time outdoors is a great way to connect with friends and family in a healthy way. While we must still recreate responsibly, I hope that everyone will join us in ushering in 2021 with a First Day Hike at your favorite state park.”

Trails at Texas State Parks range in length and difficulty levels across the state, including short, easy trails that are perfect for family-friendly scenic strolls as well as trails that are more strenuous for experienced hikers. Trail maps for all Texas State Parks can be found on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s website and individual park webpages.

Anyone planning a trip to a Texas State Park should keep in mind that parks are operating at a limited capacity. Reserving a day pass in advance is highly recommended since some parks are expected to reach their capacity limit. Reserve day passes online through the TPWD reservation website or by calling (512) 389-8900.

The TPWD encourages visitors to practice responsible recreation and follow posted rules including wearing a mask when inside buildings or when social distancing may not be possible. Local and statewide limitations and restrictions apply and can change rapidly, so the department recommends checking social media or calling the park directly for updates before traveling.

For mores stories like this, see our Dec. 31 issue or subscribe online.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]

Additionally, 121,875 doses of the Pfizer vaccine went to the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program serving staff and residents at more 300 long-term-care facilities in the first week of distribution. Vaccination under the program began in Texas Monday, Dec. 28.

Texas has been allocated about 1.2 million doses through the first three weeks of vaccine distribution and will reach providers in 199 counties.

For more information on the coronavirus vaccine distribution plan, please visit dshs.texas.gov.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]

“While this is traditionally a joyous time when we gather with our friends and families to celebrate and user in the new year,” Jenkins said, “we are in a very dangerous situation with COVID-19 in our county and region.”

Jenkins asked residents of Dallas County to take personal responsibility to stop the spread of the coronavirus by following public health guidelines and avoid indoor New Year’s Eve celebrations, particularly in high-risk settings such as bars, clubs or restaurants.

“The safest way to celebrate is at home with your household,” Jenkins said.

The county judge said there are 2.7 million residents in Dallas County with limited ICU beds available. These beds are not only for COVID-19 patients, but other acute illnesses and trauma patients as well.

According to Jenkins, UT Southwestern projects a 20% increase in hospitalizations by Jan. 5 and hospital and public health officials are concerned about additional increases following the holidays.

“Hospitals are our last line of defense and they are being stretched,” Jenkins said. “Our health care heroes need your help.”

Individuals who have been in a high-risk setting may pose a risk to those around them, said Jenkins, especially if they are can’t properly quarantine following potential exposure.

From Staff Reports • [email protected]