Anna is a city in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sov ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by b ...

. Located in Collin County, its population was 16,896 at the 2020 U.S. census.

History

Following the American Civil War, the

Houston and Texas Central Railway The Houston and Texas Central Railway (H&TC), was an 872-mile (1403-km) railway system chartered in Texas in 1848, with construction beginning in 1856. The line eventually stretched from Houston northward to Dallas and Denison, Texas. with branch ...

resumed laying track north from Corsicana and passed through the area in 1872. By the time Anna was platted in 1883, it had a population of 20, two stores, a steam gristmill, and a Baptist church. A post office also opened in that year. In 1885, the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

built a depot. By 1890 the town had a population of nearly 200. Anna was incorporated in 1913, with John L. Greer as first mayor. Local historian Chester A. Howell compiled a brief history of Anna for inclusion in a book, ''A Town Named Anna'', that was given to those who attended the Anna school homecoming on October 19, 1985. A one-page list of

errata An erratum or corrigendum (plurals: errata, corrigenda) (comes from la, errata corrige) is a correction of a published text. As a general rule, publishers issue an erratum for a production error (i.e., an error introduced during the publishing pr ...

to correct some minor errors was added in 1989. In 2018, the Anna Area Historical Preservation Society published, ''"The Spark That Ignited The Town Of Anna"'' (), a collection of stories and pictures of early Anna, Texas. The

extended its track in a north–south route several miles east of Mantua in 1872. Mantua soon declined in favor of the new railroad towns of Van Alstyne ( Grayson County) and Anna which developed here in early 1880s.

Namesake

The town was named in honor of Miss Anna Quinlan, daughter of George A. Quinlan, superintendent of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad. Anna Elizabeth Quinlan was born on September 8, 1878, to George Austin Quinlan and Mary Kate (Saunders) Quinlan. She had one sibling, George Austin Quinlan, Jr. born October 10, 1880. Anna married Edward Tom Randle of Dallas on June 2, 1902, in Washington, D.C. Edward was an attorney and, they moved to Dallas following his graduation from Georgetown College. Edward died on December 1, 1918. Following her husband’s death, Anna moved to Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and later to Libertyville, Illinois, apparently to be near her brother, George. Anna never remarried and died childless in 1952.

First Christian Church of Anna

Liberty Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), one of the earliest Christian Churches in Texas, was founded in northern Collin County by pioneer settlers Collin McKinney and J. B. Wilmeth in 1846. In 1854, a Christian seminary was established by members of the Liberty congregation about two miles northwest of Anna in the (then) newly established community of Mantua. According to local tradition Mantua's Christian congregation split between the two new communities. Former Mantua church members and early Anna resident Rebecca Sherley helped organize the First Christian Church of Anna in 1882. The Rev. Alf Douglas served as first Pastor. Services were held in the Sherley home until it burned in 1886. About 1890 the sanctuary was built here at the site of the former Sherley home. Major additions to the rear of the sanctuary were completed in 1949.

A. Sherley and Brother Hardware Store

Lewis and Pauline Sherley moved to north Texas from Kentucky about 1853. Their grandsons, brothers Andrew and William Sherley, opened a hardware store in 1894. William Sherley died in 1894 and, his son, Fred bought out his father's share of the store. It remained in the family after the store closed in 1979. Over time they were undertakers as well as purveyors of furniture, farming implements and machinery, wagons, cotton, grain and groceries. Wagon-weighing scales in front of the building were removed when the road was widened. The structure is a fine example of an early Texas commercial building, retaining the original canopy and painted signs. Minimal Victorian-era detailing includes corbelled brickwork in the parapet and paneled kickplates on storefront display windows.

Tornado

On May 9, 2006, a storm producing two tornadoes swept across Anna, with the first tornado (F0) passing east of the high school, barely missing the incorporated city limits. The second tornado (F3) touched down in neighboring

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

and Whitewright, destroying many homes and killing three. During the disaster, several volunteers from Collin County Amateur Radio Services worked with the National Weather Service in a

Skywarn Skywarn (sometimes stylized as SKYWARN) is a program of the National Weather Service (NWS). Its mission is to collect reports of localized severe weather in the United States. These reports are used to aid forecasters in issuing and verifying sev ...

net. The Anna police and fire departments along with the American Red Cross opened Anna High School up as a shelter to the "walking wounded" and anyone who needed a place to stay due to the road blockages and damage in that area. The tornadoes could be seen from Anna, Van Alstyne, and

Melissa Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Me ...

, and power was knocked out to several homes in the area.

Geography

Anna is located in northern Collin County at .

U.S. Route 75 U.S. Route 75 is a major north–south U.S. Highway that extends in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is in Noyes, Minnesota, at the Canadian border, where it once continued as Manitoba Highway 75 on the other side ...

freeway passes through the west side of the city and leads southwest to the center of

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and north to Denison. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city of Anna has a total area of , of which is land and , or 0.46%, is water. According to the City of Anna website, the city has a total area of approximately in its city limits and approximately in its planning area.City of Anna official website
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Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. The Köppen climate classification system describes the weather as

humid subtropical A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, ''Cfa''.

Demographics

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...

, there were 16,896 people, 4,450 households, and 3,792 families residing in the city.

Notable people

Ralph Fults Ralph Fults (January 23, 1911 – March 16, 1993) was a Depression-era outlaw and escape artist associated with Raymond Hamilton, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow of the Barrow Gang. Early life Born to a U.S. postal worker in Anna, Texas, he ...

(1911–1993), outlaw and associate of the Barrow gang * Curley Johnson (1935-2016), American football player *

Kewpie Morgan Kewpie Morgan (born Horace Allen Morgan, February 1, 1892 – September 24, 1956) was an American silent film comedian who also performed in a few early sound films. He appeared in 99 films from 1915 to 1936. He appeared in the films of such comed ...

(1892–1956), American silent film comedian

References

External links

City of Anna official website
* {{authority control Cities in Collin County, Texas Cities in Texas Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Populated places established in 1867