Bonham, Texas -- Fort Inglish Village, Bonham’s open air pioneer village, is now open after its winter’s closing. This wonderful historical park is on Sam Rayburn Drive in Bonham between the Sam Rayburn Museum and Library and the Trades Day venue.
Bailey Inglish was the founder of what became Bonham. He and his family came to the area in 1837. Bailey Inglish had received a land grant of 1,200 acres and he claimed acreage on both sides of Bois d’Arc and Powder creeks including all of the eastern half of present day Bonham. The original Fort Inglish was built in 1837 for protection from Indians and was on the property now occupied by the VA Hospital. The fort served as the nucleus for the development of the village that was later to become the County seat of Fannin County.
During the Texas Centennial Celebration of 1936 a replica of the fort was built on the corner of 9th Street and Lynn. This replica was dismantled and the new replica was built at the current location in 1976 for the Bi-Centennial Celebration.
The Fort Inglish open air museum contains not only the replica of the fort, but a number of other buildings. These include:
The Blacksmith Shop; The School/Church; The Bailey Inglish Family Cabin; The General Store; and The Prairie Cabin. Each location is full of interesting historic artifacts.
Many school tours are conducted by the Fort Inglish volunteers, with hands-on activities and demonstrations for the kids.
The buildings are open to the public Thursday – Saturday from noon - 4 p.m., although you can tour the outside of the buildings and enjoy the picnic tables any time.
Thanks to the generosity of the Friends of Fort Inglish and the support of the City of Bonham, there is no admission charge at the present time, but donations are certainly welcome to finance the operations and upkeep.
We welcome you to visit and bring your children and grandchildren to enjoy and learn about pioneer times in Fannin County.
