Exploring the Story of Bartonville

Bartonville Historical Marker, est. 2016.

Like many other towns in Texas, Bartonville got its start after the Texas Revolution during Texas’s early years of statehood. Originally, the land was inhabited by the Native American groups of the Comanches, Kiowas, Wichitas, and their subgroup of Kichais. The early Anglo settlers of the Bartonville area were enticed to the location by the promise of opportunity and lush land. The struggling Republic of Texas continued the empresario program that was established under Spanish and Mexican flags, to build the republic’s population. In 1841 the Texas Emigration and Land Company was awarded a vast amount of land. The land grant that made the Peters Colony served as the framework for all the settlements that eventually evolved into 26 counties, including Denton.

Bartonville had a plethora of resources at hand. Two branches of the Denton Creek – Loving Branch and Sharps Branch – provided fresh water to the early settlers of Bartonville. It was also situated in a thin forest belt of the Easter Cross Timbers which provided a ready-available source of timber to build with and fertile, sandy soil to plant their crops. Prior to the Civil War, these settlers were predominantly subsistence farmers, but the post-war arrival of the railroads expanded the economy of Denton County. With the arrival of the railroad, Bartonville was altered as crops could now be exported beyond the means of the region. In 1881 the red winter variety wheat was introduced to the county and became the new cash crop that established an important economic base for the settlers of Bartonville.

Bartonville Store, date unknown.

Bartonville was first known as “Barton’s Mills” due to it being one of the leading producers of wheat in the state, and the two brothers – James M. Barton and Bentley “B.B.” Ballard – who purchased significant amounts of land in the area to farm. The Bartonville Store was established in 1882 and became an iconic landmark of the town and served as the hub of the community. The petition for postmaster was awarded in 1886 and the Bartonville Post Office was attached to the store, with the store’s original owners serving as postmaster until 1905.

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In the first half of the 20th-century, Bartonville remained rural while surrounding communities either grew into full-fledged cities or faded into history, keeping its identity intact. Its population grew steadily, and the landmark Bartonville Store held on during the Second World War and the Great Depression, only closing its doors in 2013 after 130 years of operation. The 2010 census listed 1,469 residents across its 5,152 acres. Today, the Bartonville Store has been revamped into a deli with a bar and grill to provide residents and visitors with the unique Texas experience.

Bartonville Town Hall

 

The Darius Gregg Ranch

In 1827, a man named Darius Gregg moved to Texas from Tennessee. Two years after he moved to Texas, Gregg enlisted as a member of Stephen F. Austin’s Second Company in 1829, but later became apart of Captain John York’s Company during the Texas Revolutionary War. Over time, Gregg accumulated 20,000 acres of land in the Krum area by the 1850’s. Gregg spent most of his time in Houston, but spent many summers here at his ranch before his death.

Darius Gregg was issued 1/4 acre of land in Grimes County by the Mexican Government and was later granted another 1/4 acre by the Board of Land Commissioners of Harrisburg County in February of 1838. For his eight months of service in the Texas Army from October 5, 1835, to June 5, 1835, Gregg received 540 acres from the Republic of Texas. Polk County granted Gregg another 640 acres for his participation in the Siege of Béxar in December of 1835, bringing his total acreage to 1,180.5.

Darius Gregg married Susan Speed Bowen in 1840, and the couple went on the have five children: Caroline, Benjamin, Samuel, Susan, and William, but only William survived into adulthood. Gregg was very philanthropic in nature and gave a lot of his time and money to help service a variety of communities in Texas. Darius sold some of his land to the Methodist Church in Denton and Conroe, Texas so that they could build a church on it. Gregg even gave some land for an orphanage to be built in Baytown, Texas.

Notorious outlaw Sam Bass worked on the ranch before his years of lawlessness, and the ranch was also frequently visited by Sam Swift, who belonged to the well-known Swift meat packing family of Fort Worth.

Darius Gregg died on March 28, 1870 and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston next to his wife, son, and grandchildren. As of 1973, Darius’s granddaughter Mary Catherine Gregg still owned 750 acres that she inherited from her grandfather.

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Written by Whitney Smith