Culleoka

Culleoka, on a spur off Farm Road 982 near the banks of Lavon Lake ten miles east of McKinney in east central Collin County, is named after the Tennessee hometown of its early settlers. It was formed in the late 1880s following the construction of a general store in 1887. In 1892 its population was twenty, and by 1900 a mill and cotton gin were operating there. From 1893 to 1906 Culleoka had a post office serving an estimated population of fifty. After 1906 mail for the community was sent to McKinney. Over the next several decades the population of Culleoka grew to 150, where it remained until the late 1940s. In the 1930s the town had a high school, three or four businesses, and four churches. It began to decline in the late 1940s, in part due to the growth of nearby Plano and also because of the disruption of the area caused by the completion of Lavon Dam in 1954 and the resulting large reservoir. The community still existed in 1990.