Whitewright in Grayson County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Whitewright

Photographed by James Hulse, September 10, 2024

1. Whitewright Marker

Inscription. Early settlers in this part of Grayson County established communities at Orangeville (4 mi. E), Pilot Grove (4 mi. S), and Kentucky Town (3 mi. W). In 1878, after the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas (MKT) Railroad built a line southeast from Denison to this site, a new town was created and named for William Whitewright (1825-1898), a railroad official and vice president of the Union Trust Company of New York, the railroad's financial backer.

Immediately upon the new town's founding, former citizens of Orangeville, Pilot Grove, and Kentucky Town moved to Whitewright. A post office was established 1878, along with numerous homes and businesses. By 1894 the town boasted schools, churches, a newspaper, a college, and community organizations, as well as railroad depots, cotton gins, restaurants, drugstores, grocery stores, wagon yard and livery stables, lumberyards, hardware stores, blacksmith shops, and numerous other businesses. Serious fires in 1904 and 1911 almost most destroyed the central business district, but the citizens soon rebuilt.

The city of Whitewright no longer has passenger rail service, but it continues its role as an important marketing center for this area of Grayson County.

Erected 1992 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 11561.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1878.

Location. 33° 30.771′ N, 96° 24.096′ W. Marker is in Whitewright, Texas, in Grayson County. It is at the intersection of Pettit Parkway (U.S. 69) and West Grand Street, on the right when traveling north on Pettit Parkway. The marker is located at median of the intersection. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Whitewright TX 75491, United

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States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Prairies & Lakes Region.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Republic of Texas,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Martindale-Lackey-Hudgins House (approx. ¼ mile away); First Methodist Church of Whitewright (approx. 0.3 miles away); First Presbyterian Church and Manse (approx. 0.4 miles away); Whitewright Masonic Lodge No. 167 (approx. half a mile away); Vittitoe Cemetery (approx. 2.1 miles away); Kentucky Town (approx. 2.2 miles away); A.M. Bryant Homeplace (approx. 2.6 miles away); Everheart-Canaan Cemetery (approx. 3.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Whitewright.

Also see . . . Whitewright, TX. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) (Submitted on September 11, 2024, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.)

Photographed by James Hulse, September 10, 2024

2. Whitewright Marker

The view of the Whitewright Marker along the street image. Click for full size.

Photographed by James Hulse, September 10, 2024

3. The view of the Whitewright Marker along the street

Credits. This page was last revised on September 11, 2024. It was originally submitted on September 10, 2024, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas. This page has been viewed 555 times since then and 91 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 11, 2024, by James Hulse of Medina, Texas.