Frisco, Texas
Posted by graywacke on February 12, 2009
Are you a first-time visitor? Check out “About Landing,” above.
Dan - I was just complaining about landing in AZ 3 of the last 16 times. Well, with today’s landing, I’ve landed in another state 3 of the last 14 times (and I’m not complaining). The state is . . . TX; 113/145; 4/10; 11; 166.7.
For the second time, I landed in the Elm Fork of the Trinity R; on, of course, to the Trinity (8th hit).
As soon as I landed, I knew I wasn’t in my usual small-town America landing locations. Nope. Not this landing. For you see, this landing was in the METROPLEX! That’s right, all of you Weather Channel watchers out there certainly know what Metroplex I’m talking about: “the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.”
But to be more specific, I landed in (just outside of?) Frisco, which itself is about 25 miles N of downtown Dallas. Here’s my landing map:
And a broader view (showing a total of three landings in the Metroplex):
From the Frisco website:
Frisco, Texas is one of the most vibrant and fastest growing cities in North Texas. With the population almost tripling from 33,714 in 2000 to over 97,000 today, Frisco is doing something right. It is not your typical Dallas suburb, but a city with a lot to offer to both residents and visitors. No matter what your interest, chances are Frisco has something for you!
Moving right along to some history:
When the Dallas area was being settled by European immigrants, many of the settlers traveled by wagon trains along the old Shawnee Trail. This trail was also used for cattle drives north from Austin. With all of this activity, the community of Lebanon was founded along this trail (now Preston Road) in 1860. In 1902, a line of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway was being built through the area, and periodic watering holes were needed along the rails for the steam engines.
The current settlement of Lebanon was on the Preston Ridge and was thus too high in elevation, so the watering hole was placed about four miles to the west on lower ground. A community grew around this train stop. Residents of Lebanon actually moved their houses to the new community on logs. The new town was originally named Emerson, but that name was rejected by the U.S. Postal Service as being too similar to another town in Texas. In 1904, the residents chose Frisco City in honor of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway on which the town was founded, later shortened to its present name.
Check out my landing map. It shows Preston Road (Rt 289) and Lebanon, so you can see what was going on. So I wonder how the residents of Lebanon moved their houses over the creek just north of town (and south of Frisco). It’s hard to imagine moving a house on logs across a creek. Oh, well. . .
Frisco has a very impressive “Heritage Museum.” Here’s a picture:
Here are a couple of back-in-the-day shots (from the Heritage Museum website). First, a Frisco School picture from 1910. The poor photographer just couldn’t get these kids to smile . . .
Here’s a young couple from Frisco, Tom and Irene Roach. (The Roach family is one of the founding families of the town). They were both born in 1905. They seem so modern (and so happy). Makes one reflect on the passage of time, eh?
And, some more information on the Roach family:
Elijah Thomas Roach realized that the new railroad meant that Lebanon was being by-passed and that a new town would soon spring up somewhere along the rail line. So, he moved his family a few miles northwest to the area, which later became known as Frisco. Elijah Thomas Roach built the first house in Frisco, at the northwest corner of Sixth and Pecan Streets. The house still stands but has been remodeled and altered several times since the original construction. Descendents of the Roach family still live in Frisco today.
It turns out that Frisco has a minor league baseball team!!! The Frisco Rough Riders. They have quite the stadium! From the team’s website:
The Frisco RoughRiders were named the Minor League Team of the Year by Baseball America for the ‘Riders’ accomplishments over the 2008 campaign. Frisco led all of Double-A with 184 stolen bases on the season and was among the Texas League leaders in batting average (.277), home runs (129), runs (758), doubles (274), and triples (36).
The RoughRiders finished the regular season with an 84-56 record, winning both the First and Second Half Championship in the Texas League for the first time in franchise history.
They have a mascot, a certain “Deuce.” Here’s his picture and his story:
Years ago, as construction began at Dr Pepper Ballpark, strange things began to stir around the park.
The residents of Collin County noticed as well, when massive holes began popping up. ”I almost lost my car in one of those sink holes,” said a Frisco resident.
Officials decided to set a trap near the construction site of the ballpark. Cotton candy was to be used as bait. Late one night they caught a massive prairie dog!
It wasn’t long before people around town became acquainted with the mammoth-sized prairie dog. They realized right away that he was warm-hearted, outgoing, and could play baseball like nobody’s business. ”I’m not kidding, that prairie dog can hit a mean curve ball,” said a Rough Riders scout. “And since a curve ball is also referred to as a deuce, that’s what we called him. If anybody deserves to be named Deuce, it’s him.” (For you not-so-knowledgeable readers: the catcher, when he wants the pitcher to through a curve ball, typically puts two fingers down between his legs as the curveball sign. Thus, “deuce.”)
From a blog (click here for the blog) written by a Plano TX resident:
I enjoyed the game, my wife enjoyed the game. We will need to go to more of these. There was plenty of between inning entertainment. . . . They have a bear mascot, I assume he is a “Teddy Bear” as the team name is the “Rough Riders” and a cartoon image of Teddy Roosevelt was used freely on the Diamond Vision screen. The bear is probably 8 feet tall. His “name” is Deuce.
We are definitely going back. I just love the atmosphere. What a great evening.
Hey – Rough Riders management. It looks like you have a problem here. Is Deuce a prairie dog or a teddy bear? Your website says priairie dog, but the Teddy Bear/Rough Riders connection makes sense.
By the way, it just so happens that the country’s leading expert on Minor League baseball promotions (especially mascots) happens to be my son Ben. He writes on the official Minor League Baseball website, MiLB.com, and also writes a blog called “Ben’s Biz Blog” associated with the website. Click here to check it out. Maybe, if we’re lucky, I can get some feedback from Ben on the Frisco Rough Riders . . .
KS
Greg
© 2009 A Landing A Day
