Hammett Excavation is pitching in as a subcontractor on UTRWD's Lake Ralph Hall, but this is not just any project for the family-owned excavation company. Today, the team hauls local filter sand for Resolve Aggregates, a local business partner, to help construct the dam. However, the Hammett team's connection to conservation around Lake Ralph Hall goes back to 1963, when Gaylon Hammett's family business began with a small job to stop erosion in nearby streams — long before the idea of a reservoir was conceived. "Our first dozer job was right here near the site of Lake Ralph Hall, working on soil case conservation," second-generation CEO Hammett shared. "The government offered funding to slow severe erosion in the area."

As Fannin County begins to celebrate the historical significance of bois d'arc to this region, perhaps it is time to revisit a lecture given in 2011 by the late Dr. Fred Tarpley, Professor Emeritus of Literature and Languages at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

A special ceremony will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2024, starting at 11:00 a.m. with a potluck lunch following, to honor Staff Sergeant Eula Sturdivant Phillips, United States Army Air Force, World War II. Please note that This ceremony is scheduled to start after the cemetery workday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Over one hundred years ago, what we now call World War I was raging throughout Europe. The first Fannin County boy to die overseas in battle was Rufus Shelton. Born in Honey Grove, Texas on March 2, 1898, he was the seventh child of nine children in that family. His father was a farmer who operated a farm near the small community of Dial, southeast of Honey Grove.

Just 25 minutes from downtown Dallas lies the John Bunker Sands Wetland Center, a hidden gem that is revolutionizing water treatment through innovative conservation practices. Spanning almost 2,000 acres, this remarkable facility combines beauty with utility, serving as both a vibrant habitat for wildlife and an essential water treatment system for over one million residents in the Dallas area.

When visionary conservationist John Bunker Sands gazed across his cattle field, he imagined a thriving wetland teeming with life. This dream has now transformed into one of the largest manmade wetlands in the United States, providing a crucial resource for both nature and the Dallas-area community.

It was a rumbling review of military-vehicle history and a special treat for many veterans in Bonham when the Military Vehicle Preservation Association HA Jefferson Highway 2024 Convoy passed through Bonham on Sunday, October 20, 2024.

Since the beginning of construction on Lake Ralph Hall, UTRWD has worked with the Perot Museum to identify, extract and/or study significant fossil finds. This includes the 2022 discovery of a Tylosaurus on a section of the North Sulphur River owned by UTRWD (image courtesy of the Perot Museum). UTRWD worked with Perot Museum paleontologists to extract the specimen for further study at the museum.

In 1685, the French explorer Robert de La Salle embarked on an ambitious mission to establish a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Among his fleet of four ships was La Belle, a vessel that would become a significant piece of maritime history. However, the expedition met with misfortune, and La Belle was wrecked in what is now known as Matagorda Bay in 1686. For over three centuries, La Belle lay hidden beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The tale begins in 1985 when historian Robert Weddle received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It was in Madrid that Weddle made a crucial discovery. He unearthed the journal of Juan Enríquez Barroto, a pilot who had participated in a Spanish expedition searching for La Salle's Texas colony. (model of La Belle)

Glenn Morgan was born in Bristow, Oklahoma in 1923 but, by his account, never lived there as his family worked in the oil fields and they moved around a lot.

William Yoss, who served in the U.S. Army and was assigned to the 45th Infantry Division, was born on December 26, 1930, in McAlester, Oklahoma.

Donald Graves was a 20-year-old native of Detroit, Michigan when he landed on shore with his unit of 335 men. Six weeks later he was among only 18 of his group to survive. photo of Don Graves made in 1942 at Camp Pendleton

Planners watch Iwo Jima action - Secretary of Navy James Forrestal, left, and General Holland M. Smith went ashore. Forrestal asked for the first, smaller flag for a souvenir, but objection quickly came from the Marines. Joe Rosenthal took this photo with Mount Suribachi in the background. One of the survivors is 99-year-old Don Graves of Keller, Texas. He will speak to the World War II History Roundtable in the Greenville, Texas Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, July 25.

Around farms and ranches all over Fannin County, you can find barbed wire. The simple fencing is as common to see as the grass and the trees and yet it played a pivotal role in shaping the American frontier. Currently, there are about 240 different styles of barbed wire on display at the Fannin County Museum of History. The Museum has also partnered with the new Deuces Wild Western Wear store located at 113 W. Sam Rayburn Drive in Bonham, Texas to display a panel of barbed wire.

To longtime residents and newcomers alike, Hickory Bar-B-Que was much more than a diner and more like a friend until a fire damaged the building and caused the business to close. For almost a half century, this family business has been woven into the very fabric of Bonham. Our fabric smelled like hickory wood on the smoker and we wore it proudly. A celebration of the Blevins family and Hickory Bar-B-Que is set for 5:00-8:00 p.m. Saturday, June 15, 2024, at Roy Floyd Community Center in Bonham.

Around 2001, I started coming to visit Don Blevins at the great big round table in the middle of the store. I would love to sit by him and sink in the knowledge that he would give me on all the experiences that he had accomplished in the many years before and during his Hickory BBQ career. That is when it all started with every Wednesday meeting of the boys with Don.

It was 10 minutes past 10:00 p.m. on Friday, May 28, 1880 when a tornado brought death and devastation to Savoy, Texas. It happened so quickly that the hotel keeper in Savoy said he reached for his pantaloons when he heard the cyclone approaching, but in what he described as five seconds of terror, the town was almost completely destroyed before he could even get them on. graphic designed by Freepik

On Tuesday, May 14, relatives of former Fannin County Judge Choice Moore presented the County with a gavel made from a log from the first Fannin County Courthouse, which was built at Warren near Red River in 1839, during the Republic of Texas times.

"Heavy Date Over Germany" was the quarterly program of the North Texas World War II History Roundtable. Jewellee Jordan Kuenstler, director of the Museum of the West Texas Frontier in Stamford, Texas, will present the life and times of B-17 tail gunner Ray Perry. He flew missions over various Nazi targets in 1944 and 1945. The program will be at 7 p.m. April 25 at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum in Greenville. Members and public are invited.

Col. James Tarleton, who is buried in the Inglish Cemetery in Bonham, fought at San Jacinto in the Texas War for Independence.

Congressman Pat Fallon (TX-04) is honored to award Mr. William "Bill" Douglass with the Congressional Patriot Award. Mr. Douglass is a distinguished American and is the first Grayson County resident to receive the prestigious award.

John Wesley Hardin was one of the most violent figures of a violent age. Born near Bonham to a Methodist preacher in 1853, he quickly moved to a life of crime.

During the Texas War for Independence Colonel James Fannin (after whom Fannin County was later named) commanded over 300 Texas troops at Goliad. This was after the fall of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Other soldiers joined these troops at Goliad. Facing overwhelming force, Fannin surrendered to the Mexican Army, expecting that his troops would soon be released. On March 27, Palm Sunday, between 425 and 445 Texians were marched into an open field and executed.

The Fannin County Museum of History is delighted to have received a donation of a 600-set collection of stereoscope images which was produced by the Keystone View Company for use in classrooms. The donation was from the family of Glenna Langford, who taught 4th grade in Bonham from 1966 to 1990.

Bonham recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first train into town, so we wanted to run this 90-year-old article in the Bonham Daily Favorite about the first train pulling into Bonham on October 12, 1873.

Good gifts for a history lover! The Museum is open noon - 4:00 p.m., Tuesday - Saturday and is located at 1 Main Street, just a few blocks should of the Courthouse Square.