Fannin County

Fannin County is located in Northeast Texas on the Oklahoma border. Bonham, the county seat, is fifty-five miles northeast of Dallas. The center point of the county is at approximately 33°30' north latitude and 96°10' west longitude. Fannin County comprises 895 square miles of mainly blackland, with a claypan area in the north near the Red River. The topography has little variety, with ranges of moderately rolling hills throughout the county. Fannin County has an elevation ranging between 500 and 700 feet above sea level. The average annual rainfall is a little over forty-three inches. The land is drained by the Red River and Bois D'Arc Creek and is watered by numerous springs. The average minimum temperature in January is 33° F, and the average maximum in July is 94°. The growing season lasts 228 days. The natural flora consists of oak, hickory, ash, walnut, pecan, cottonwood, elm, cedar, and Bois D'Arc trees, as well as redbud, spicewood, dogwood, pawpaw, and dwarf buckeye. The main natural resource is timber; consequently, wood-product manufacture has been important in the local economy.

When European explorers visited the region in 1687 they found it occupied by the Caddo Indians. By 1836, when White settlers first entered the area, no Indians inhabited the land. The Caddoes had joined a larger group known as the Cherokees and their Twelve Associated Bands. White settlers arrived by riverboat at Jonesborough in what is now Red River County. The pioneers crossed the river and established two early colonies. One, named Lexington, was located on the Red River and was headed by Dr. Daniel Rowlett. The other colony, begun by Daniel Slack, was on the east side of the middle Bois D'Arc Creek. Numerous other colonists quickly joined this initial band, and eighty-eight first-class land certificates had been granted before the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed in March 1836.