Westminster, Texas, Collin County. (original) (raw)

Grocery Store in 1968
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead

History in a Pecan Shell

Originally called Seven Points after it was established around 1860, it merged with neighboring Prospect and Graybill Texas in the 1880s. In the 1890s the Methodist Church established Westminster College for training ministers. The name was after Westminster, Maryland. Within a year Seven Points citizens decided to change the name.

In 1899 a post office opened. Westminster served as a cotton market through the 1920s when the population was estimated to be around 600. The town was bypassed by railroads and during the Great Depression the population dropped to less than 300.

After WWII Dallas drew off population, leaving less than 200 people. It has slowly increased to the current estimate of 390.

Westminster was hit by a tornado in April of 2006.

Downtown Westminster ca. 1900
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead

Standing on the square in Westminster in Feb. 1958
Alamo Building & old drug store
Photo courtesy Collin Armistead

First State Bank, once "the only grocery in town"
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

Post office, Westminster, TX 75485
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2006

Westminster, Texas Forum

• Subject: Winter Haven TX
  My dad, Frank Torres was born here in Winter Haven April 2, 1930. No birth certificate, but I have his baptismal certificate from nearby town. - Cheryl Soto, September 07, 2015
• Subject: A Plea from Westminster, Texas
  I currently own the three buildings in old Downtown Westminster, Texas known as Big Slick's Bar & Grill. The buildings consist of the 'First State Bank Building,' the old drug store and the old 'Alamo' building which is the two story building in the picture that was a Telegraph office in the late late 1800's to early early 1900's. I am trying to preserve the three building's history and the City of Westminster's also. I am trying to find people that may have old photos of the downtown area (any era) and most hopefully photos of the inside of the three buildings especially the bank building and the old telegraph office building. I am also looking for anything related to the bank such as old deposits, receipts, bank records, pictures, pens, pins, etc that may be related to the bank. Westminster's history is dying a fast death and we are trying to collect as much of the history of the downtown as possible so we can display it on our 'History of Westminster Wall' inside the bank which now houses our bar/grill. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me preserve the history of this once great town. Thank You - Collin, collin@bigslicks.com, October 11, 2011
• Subject: Recollections of "days-gone-by"
  Dear TE, Prior to 1928 my mother, Ruby Lee McFerrin (Hall) worked in the 1st National Bank in Westminister. The head of the bank was Mr. Procter. After the bank closed my grandfather, Claude McFerrin, moved his grocery store from the other side of the square to the bank building. He continued to operate the store until the early 1950's. He sold the store to his brother-in-law Francis Sellars and wife Jennie.
  In the 1920's Westminister was a thriving community. On the east side of the square there was a general merchandise store on the 1st floor. The barbershop was in the same building as the general merchandise store and also served as a meeting place for local musicians. Next to the barbershop Rob McCarley had a grocery store. The entire 2nd floor was one big open room that served as a basketball court. My uncle, Choice McFerrin loved to play basketball there. On the west side of the bank was a caf� that did not fare well. On the other side of the bank was a drug store with a licensed pharmacist. On the west side of the square was a casket sales store, next to that was the post office, and on the corner was Griffin's Store. The post master was Mr. John Easton. The next post master was named Griffin.
  During this time period there were 3 different churches in Westminister. They were Church of Christ, Baptist, and Methodist. The Methodist's had a brush arbor that was used by all the different churches during the summer revival meetings. - Cary W. Hall, San Antonio, TX, February 25, 2007
• Subject: First State Bank Building
  Dear TE, The building shown as the First State Bank was originally my uncle's grocery store. His name was Ben Cowling and for years it was the only grocery in town. I know he ran it from the early 1960's through to the 1990's... - Thank you, Tricia Dennie, January 30, 2007

Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.