Allen Texas History and Information

Ebenezer Allen

Allen, Texas Photos

  The city was named after former Texas attorney general and railroad promoter Ebenezer Allen. Born in Newport, New Hampshire on April 8, 1804, Allen graduated from Dartmouth College in 1826. He then studied law under Amasa Edes in Newport, N.H. and after being admitted to the bar moved to Orono, Maine and later Texas. Becoming attorney general of Texas under Anson Jones in December 1844, he served a while as secretary of state, and assisted Jones in framing the terms of annexation to the United States. He was attorney general under Governor Peter Hansbrough Bell from 1849 to 1853. In 1848 Allen was instrumental in securing the charter for the Galveston and Red River Railroad Company, and in the 1850s he was a promoter and manager of the Houston and Texas Central Railway. He supported secession and entered the Confederate service at the outbreak of the Civil War. He died in Virginia in 1863.

Train Robbery

Allen Depot

  In 1878, a gang of robbers led by Sam Bass, committed what is believed to have been the first train robbery in Texas at the Allen station. The first railway dam used to facilitate the railway still stands at Exchange Park

Through Time

By 1884 Allen had a population estimated at 350, three churches, a school, a chair factory, and a flour mill. In 1908 the Texas Traction Company built an electric railway through the town. The population had increased to 550 by 1915. In the mid-1940s the number of residents declined to 400, and in 1948 train service was discontinued. Beginning in the late 1960s, however, Allen's population grew rapidly. Between 1970 and 1980 the number of residents jumped from 1,940 to 8,314. This increase was influenced by the economic growth of Dallas and nearby Plano and the construction of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. In the year 2000, Allen had grown to over 40,000. By 2007, the population had nearly doubled.