Collin County

Collin County (C-18/19), is located in northeastern Texas thirty miles south of the Red River. McKinney, the county seat, is thirty-four miles northeast of Dallas. The county's center lies at approximately 33°11' north latitude and 96°34' west longitude. With the exception of a small portion of its western edge, Collin County's area of 851 square miles lies entirely within the Blackland Prairie region of Texas. The surface of the county is generally level to gently rolling, with an elevation ranging from 450 to 700 feet above sea level. Deep clayey soils over marl and chalk surface the central and western part of the county. Dark loamy alluvial soils, subject to flooding during the rainy season, lie in the eastern section. The western and central portions of the county are drained by the East fork of the Trinity River. The Elm fork of the Trinity drains the eastern section. Bois d' arc, oak, elm, ash, pecan, and post oak trees grow along the streams of the county but not in sufficient quantity for commercial use. Limestone and sand for making cement are the only mineral resources. Temperatures range from an average high of 96° F in July to an average low of 34° in January. Rainfall averages just under thirty-five inches a year, and the growing season extends for 237 days.

Branches of the Caddo Indians inhabited the area before the arrival of the first White settlers. Occasional outbreaks of violence occurred between the two groups, but there was no extended period of conflict since the Caddos withdrew from the county by the mid-1850s. The absence of organized Indian resistance, combined with the county's fertile soil and an offer of land grants by the Peters colony attracted settlers to the area in the early 1840s. Even with the offer of free land, the estimated population of the county was only 150 when it was demarked from Fannin County on April 3, 1846, and named for Collin McKinney, one of the first settlers of the county and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. The original county seat was Buckner. Because this town Buckner was not within three miles of the center of the county, however, McKinney became the county seat in 1848. Like the county, McKinney was named for Collin McKinney.