Browse Items (153 total)

A side view of the Mexican Flag Float in the Mexican Independence Day celebration parade in Downtown McKinney.

People began settling in the McKinney area around 1842 mainly to raise livestock and crops. By 1848 McKinney had incorporated as a town and was designated as the County Seat for Collin County. As the downtown square became a hub for purchasing goods…

Tokens were commonly used in advertising companies during this time period. This token is good for one drink at Jim Ware's Saloon.

According to the Collin Chronicle Newspaper the first homicide in McKinney was in 1854 at the Rock Saloon. Joe Peak had been drinking a little too much. So the bartender called the Justice of the Peace, Alf Johnson. After Johnson arrived it is…

On the morning of February 13th, 1902, Walter Howell discovered that G.A. Stiff’s saloon had been robbed overnight according to the Democrat newspaper. Howell found a wire screen had been pulled loose and a stick used to prop open the window.…

Captain Roy Hall gives us a glimpse inside Rich Rambo’s saloon. In 1952, Hall wrote an article for The Courier-Gazette remembering the time he went into Rambo’s saloon as a boy with his father. He describes Rich as the “prince among gentlemen” for…

Saloons and drinking were controversial in McKinney. As early as 1887, citizens began voicing their dislike of both. Prohibition speeches were delivered on the Courthouse steps. Opinion statements from both sides were published in the newspapers. In…

On April 3, 1890 the Democratic Newspaper (I don't believe there was a Republican Newspaper) reported a story of gunfire and near misses! Todd Warden and John Campbell had gotten into an argument for some unknown reason. Later in the day they both…