Quinlan, Hunt County
In 1882 the Houston and Texas Central Railroad bought 100 acres of land from Texas Governor Oran Roberts. As the terminus of the company's northeastern line, Roberts quickly attracted business people. The town boasted a school for white students and another for black students, a post office with daily mail service, a doctor, a blacksmith, a carpenter, dry goods and grocers, general stores, and saloons. Roberts gained a reputation as a boomtown, full of opportunity and vice. In 1892 the bankrupt Houston and Texas Central sold its northeastern line to New Yorker Hetty Green who reorganized the railroad as the Texas Midland under the leadership of her son Edward "Ned" Green. A land dispute between the two railroad companies led Ned Green to purchase land just north of Roberts, establishing a depot there and platting the new town of Quinlan. Merchants and business people soon moved their facilities to Quinlan, followed by the First Missionary Baptist Church of Roberts and others wishing to escape Roberts' lawlessness. The Quinlan Depot and post office were dedicated on October 17, 1894; the Roberts Depot and Telegraph Office were promptly dismantled by railroad agents. A fire of unknown origin destroyed Roberts in 1895. (1998) Incise on back: Dedicated to Joe Wesley Renshaw and his love of south Hunt County history. Marker researched by Donna Smith.