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Allen is more than its $60 million high school football stadium or vast shopping options from the Allen Premium Outlets to Watters Creek. Since the city’s inception in 1872, Allen spent its first few decades as a quiet water station town before gradually climbing to be ranked as one of the best suburbs in America. But how does a city get to be a top suburb? By putting residents first.
From Allen’s state-of-the-art educational system to community celebrations, the city focuses on its residents, retaining a small-town feel while growing as a metropolis.
Wide-open prairie fields
Allen was once just a prairie field with sideoats grama, and bluestem grass that grew as high as six feet. Buffalo and other wildlife roamed through these tall grass fields where nomadic Native American tribes would eventually inhabit.
For over 11,000 years, tribes such as the Caddo and Comanche crossed this area, leaving their mark on the land. Native American artifacts have been found, and the Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary in Collin County displays some of them.
Railroad companies establish town
In 1841, the Republic of Texas launched an initiative to grow its population by giving as much as 640 acres to incoming colonists. The news of free land attracted one Kentuckian family who settled in present-day Allen in the early 1840s. Ebenezer Allen obtained the charter to form the Houston and Texas Central Railway Company (H&TC) in 1848. After years of expansion, in 1872 H&TC took the small pioneer community and formally established Allen.
What made Allen attractive to railroad companies was its easy access to water. Locomotives of the time were steam-powered and needed water stations in between routes. Cottonwood Creek was the main source of water for early colonists, and H&TC constructed a dam in 1874 that made Allen an important water stop for the Denison to Galveston route. The dam has stood the test of time for over 140 years, and residents can visit the dam today off the Cottonwood Creek trail.
Sam Bass sticks 'em up
Allen’s first claim to fame came on Feb. 22, 1878, when the town was the site of the first Texas train robbery. Sam Bass and his gang were infamous train robbers who stormed the Allen Station to take several bags of money and up to $1,500 worth of valuables. The gang’s crime spree didn’t last long. Five months later the outlaw leader was shot in Round Rock and died on his 27th birthday.
Allen hasn’t forgotten the outlaw’s antics and Allen High School students continue to reenact this historic train robbery.
Sleepy town grows into its own
The sleepy town of Allen was gradually forming its own identity in the first half of the 20th century. In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt briefly visited Allen while passing through by train. The bespectacled president made a short address that captivated the town. Soon after, in 1908, Texas Traction Co. made Allen a stop in its Denison-to-Dallas line for its electrical railway. Although the interurban railway ceased operations in 1948, the Allen depot built in 1913 on Butler Drive stands to this day.
However, tragedy struck that hindered early growth. A fire ravaged downtown Allen in 1915 and destroyed half of the business district. The fire marked the end of 15 years of prosperity in Allen, according to local historian Gwen Pettit. It would take years for the town and business owners to recover from financial losses caused by the fire.
Allen grew out of its small-town roots by May 9, 1953. The Dallas Morning News reported the town voted to incorporate with 104 in favor and five against. At the time of voting, Allen had a population of 496 compared with 103,383 residents today.
The Eagles aren’t just sports and brawn
Allen established its independent school district in 1910, where over a century later Allen ISD would become one of the top school districts in the state. Today, the district enrolls over 20,000 students.
The crown jewel of the district is arguably Allen High School, the home of a famous football team, a $60 million stadium, the largest high school marching band, and more. The high school first opened in 1910 and went through two different locations before finally opening its main campus for grades 10-12 in 1999, dubbed “Allen High School 2000.” Allen ISD approved spending $107 million to build a new freshman center, and the old building was renovated and repurposed as the new site for the Pat Dillard Special Achievement Center.
Allen High School offers a host of choices for students to excel academically with options to choose AP courses, the International Baccalaureate program, or dual college enrollment in partnership with Collin College. Most recently, Allen became the site of a new $177 million Collin College Technical Campus. Allen serves as a public school educational hub in providing its students with the latest resources for high achievement.
Waving the star-spangled banner
Since 1993, the city has hosted Allen USA, a community Fourth of July celebration that began with 5,000 attending the first event before ballooning to over 80,000 in recent years.
The event, which is free to the public, celebrates America’s independence at the 106-acre Celebration Park that offers food, activities, fireworks and live entertainment. Famous artists have made their way to Allen USA, including the “All Star" rock group Smash Mouth, as reported by The News in June 27, 2009. Allen USA is a day of camaraderie for people from all over Collin County.
Allen proves to be dino-mite
In small production studio tucked away in Allen, Barney doesn’t just come from our imagination. The show was conceived by Kaitlin Parker and Sheryl Leach in 1987. Barney and the Backyard Gang, its original name, was initially only available on home video and filled a gap in the market for engaging video content for toddlers. The Allen-produced show’s popularity quickly soared and the show made its nationwide debut on PBS in 1992 as Barney and Friends.
The News reported in Dec. 4, 1992, that the 6-foot-4-inch purple dinosaur was “already bigger than Big Bird.” Color Dynamics Studio in Allen cultivated a generation of young viewers through Barney’s playtime adventures. The show switched to a bigger studio in Las Colinas by 1993.
Barney isn’t the only dinosaur from Allen. The North Texas city is also the home of Billings Production, a premier dinosaur animatronics manufacturer. The life-size animatronics are designed to be exhibited in museums, zoos and theme parks, The News reported in 2020.
The future and beyond
There’s no indication that Allen will be slowing down anytime soon. The city continues to invest in education and uses low tax rates to entice businesses to move to the North Texas suburb.
Allen gives its all for residents, earning its title as one of the best suburbs in America.
Read the full article by Dom DiFurio about Billings Production that appeared in The Dallas Morning News on Feb. 23, 2020.
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