Bonham is a city and is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Fannin County, Texas, United States. Its population was 10,408 at the 2020 census. James Bonham (the city's namesake) sought the aid of James Fannin (the county's namesake) at the

Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a siege of the Alamo, 13-day siege, Mexico, Mexican troops under president of Mexico, President Antonio L� ...

. Bonham is part of the Texoma region in northern Texas and southern Oklahoma.

History

One of Texas's oldest cities, Bonham dates to 1837, when Bailey Inglish built a two-story

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

, named Fort Inglish, about from the current downtown. Inglish and other acquaintances settled there in the summer of 1837, and the settlement was named "Bois d'Arc". The

Congress of the Republic of Texas : ''For the current Texas legislative body, see Texas Legislature.'' The Congress of the Republic of Texas was the national legislature of the Republic of Texas established by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836. It was a bicameral ...

named the city Bloomington in 1843, but renamed it Bonham in honor of James Butler Bonham, a defender of the

Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alam ...

. On February 2, 1848, Bonham was incorporated as a city. A 1936 statue of Bonham by Texas sculptor Allie Tennant is on the courthouse grounds. After connecting to the

Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company (known as the T&P) was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California. However its lines never went we ...

the city began to grow, and by 1885, the city had six churches, three colleges, two public schools, three weekly newspapers, a sawmill, two grain mills, a power plant, and about 2,300 inhabitants. In 1890, streetcars and an ice plant wee added, and the Texas Power and Light Company, the area's utility provider, began service. In 1925, the city was connected to natural gas lines. In 1898, 1911–1914, and 1921–1922, Bonham hosted

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

. The Bonham Boosters and other Bonham teams played as members of the Class D Texas-Oklahoma League (1911–1914, 1921–1922) and the Independent Southwestern League (1898). Bonham teams featured a different moniker each season.

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

member

Kid Nichols Charles Augustus "Kid" Nichols (September 14, 1869 – April 11, 1953) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the Boston Beaneaters, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies from 1890 to 1906. A switch hitter w ...

was the manager of the 1914 Bonham Sliders. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a training camp and an aviation school for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

were in the vicinity of Bonham, as was a prisoner-of-war camp for German soldiers. Parts of the camp, about 0.5 miles north of US 82, can still be visited today.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, Bonham has a total area of , all land.

Climate

Bonham's climate is characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Bonham has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

, ''Cfa'' on climate maps.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, 10,408 people, 2,963 households, and 1,696 families resided in the city. The population density was , with 3,400 housing units. Of the2,963 households, 28.8% had children under 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 15.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37% were not families. About32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 32.3% had someone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.4 and the average family size was 3.05. In the city, the age distribution was 21.0% under 18, 9.o% from 28 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. The median income for a household in the city was $43,793, and for a family was $52,334. Males had a median income of $26,035 versus $21,897 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $24,874. About 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line.

Education

The city is served by the Bonham Independent School District. The city's high school is Bonham High School. Grayson County College operated a branch campus in Bonham until 2012.

Infrastructure

Highways in the Bonham area include U.S. Route 82, Texas State Highway 78,

Texas State Highway 56 State Highway 56 (SH 56) is a state highway Grayson and Fannin counties in north-central Texas, United States. This highway was designated in 1974 to replace U.S. Highway 82 (US 82) when it was rerouted north of Whitesbo ...

, and Texas State Highway 121.

Notable people

Homer Blankenship Homer "Si" Blankenship (August 4, 1902 – June 22, 1974) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball with the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB)

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

of 1920s * Ted Blankenship, MLB pitcher of 1920s *

Charlie Christian Charles Henry Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. He was among the first electric guitarists and was a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained national exposure as ...

, pioneering jazz guitarist * Charlie Cole, photojournalist, known for his photo of the Tank Man during the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

* Roberta Dodd Crawford, lyric soprano and voice instructor * Danny Darwin, MLB pitcher *

Karen Dalton Karen J. Dalton (born Jean Karen Cariker; July 19, 1937 – March 19, 1993) was an American country blues singer, guitarist, and banjo player. She was associated with the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, particularly with F ...

, folk blues singer * John Wesley Hardin, well-known

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

and

gunfighter Gunfighters, also called gunslingers () or in the late 19th and early 20th century gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslin ...

in late 19th-century Texas *

Durwood Keeton Durwood Lee Keeton (born August 14, 1952) is an American former professional football defensive back who played one season with the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the four ...

, American football player *

Kenny Marchant Kenny Ewell Marchant (born February 23, 1951) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for , from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he represented several areas around Dallas and Fort Worth. On August 5, 20 ...

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

, Texas 24th District * Joe Melson, BMI Award-winning songwriter for

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

* Tom McBride, MLB

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

* Roy McMillan,

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

* Jerry Moore, former head coach of Appalachian State Mountaineers football team *

Joe Morgan Joe Leonard Morgan (September 19, 1943 – October 11, 2020) was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Houston Colt .45s / Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Fran ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

, politician, former

speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by Davi ...

* James Tague, writer and a key witness to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy * B. A. Wilson,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

driver

Notes

References

External links

City of Bonham official website
* {{authority control Cities in Texas Cities in Fannin County, Texas County seats in Texas Micropolitan areas of Texas Populated places established in 1837 1837 establishments in the Republic of Texas