44 Fun Facts About Sherman, Texas (and Sherman County)

Fun facts about Sherman, Texas

#1
Sherman's first post office was an old coat! The postmaster hung it on a branch of a big pecan tree on the town square and stuffed the letters into its pockets.
#2
When Sherman was brand new, a 12-year-old girl named Julia Shannon got to name the streets. She picked Texas heroes like Travis, Houston and Crockett, and trees like Walnut, Pecan, Cherry and Elm.
#3
During Sherman's very first court session, a flock of wild turkeys flew over. Everyone ran outside to hunt them, even the lawyer!
#4
Sherman moved! In 1848 the whole town moved about 3 miles east, because the first spot did not have enough wood and water.
#5
Sherman and Grayson County were created on March 17, 1846. That was less than three months after Texas became a state.
#6
Sherman is named after General Sidney Sherman, a hero of the Texas Revolution. His soldiers are said to be the first to shout “Remember the Alamo!” at the Battle of San Jacinto.
#7
Sherman is not named after William T. Sherman, the Civil War general. It is named after Sidney Sherman, a Texas hero.
#8
The very first railroad engine in Texas was called the General Sherman. It was named after the same man our town is named for.
#9
On September 20, 1858, a Butterfield Overland stagecoach rolled into Sherman. Its route was 2,795 miles long, the longest stage line in the world.
#10
In the 1870s, Sherman had so many colleges that people called it the “Athens of Texas.” Athens is a city in Greece that is famous for learning.
#11
Kidd-Key College in Sherman had a music school with 120 pianos by 1910. Imagine all those pianos playing at once!
#12
In 1880, Grayson County had more people than any other county in Texas.
#13
In 1885, a big business company called Sherman the money center of Texas.
#14
The first electric interurban train in Texas ran between Denison and Sherman. It opened in 1901.
#15
More than 100 years ago, you could ride an electric train from Sherman all the way to Dallas. The track was 65 miles long.
#16
Washington Iron Works opened in Sherman in 1876. It is Sherman's oldest industry that is still working today.
#17
The Grayson County Courthouse in downtown Sherman was built in 1936. It is the county's seventh courthouse!
#18
The Sherman Museum is inside Sherman's old library. The building was made in 1914 with money from Andrew Carnegie, who paid for libraries all over America.
#19
The Sherman Museum has more than 50,000 objects about Grayson County and the Red River area. Most of them are kept safe in storage.
#20
Sherman's motto is “Classic Town. Broad Horizon.”
#21
Old Settlers Park has been a gathering place since 1909, when a club of early settlers bought the land.
#22
Country music star Buck Owens was born in Sherman on August 12, 1929. He later helped host the TV show Hee Haw.
#23
Edna Gladney moved to Sherman in 1913. She helped get the town's first school nurse, and in 1918 she opened a day nursery for working moms.
#24
Edna Gladney later helped more than 10,000 babies and children find new families. A 1941 movie told her story.
#25
Bass Reeves, one of the most famous lawmen of the Old West, grew up in Grayson County near where Pottsboro is today. He was born into slavery and later became a deputy U.S. marshal.
#26
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, Sherman's next-door neighbor.
#27
Austin College started in 1849 and moved to Sherman in 1876. It is the oldest college in Texas that still has its first name and charter.
#28
Sam Houston, one of the most famous heroes in Texas history, served on the board of Austin College.
#29
Austin College's sports teams are the Kangaroos, and the mascot is named Rowdy 'Roo.
#30
Austin College's Adams Observatory has the largest telescope in the region. It is great for looking at stars and planets.
#31
Sherman ISD opened three brand-new elementary schools in 2025. Their mascots are the Crutchfield Cougars, the Fairview Falcons and the Parker Wranglers.
#32
Texas Instruments' new Sherman factory is built to make tens of millions of computer chips every day.
#33
The chips made in Sherman are built on round, super-thin wafers of silicon that are 300 millimeters wide. That's almost 12 inches, about the size of a large pizza!
#34
Lake Texoma's name is a mix of “Texas” and “Oklahoma,” because the lake sits right on the border between the two states.
#35
Lake Texoma is home to striped bass, a fish that usually lives in salt water. It is the only place in Texas where striped bass keep having babies on their own.
#36
Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is named after a town that is gone. The families moved away when Lake Texoma was built. Now more than 300 kinds of birds visit.
#37
Sherman sits 686 feet above sea level.

Fun facts about Sherman County (the other Sherman!)

Sherman County is a different place from the city of Sherman. It is about 430 miles away, way up in the Texas Panhandle. Its county seat is a town called Stratford.

#38
Sherman County is a totally different place from Sherman! It is about 430 miles away in the Texas Panhandle. Both are named after General Sidney Sherman.
#39
Sherman County is more than 3,000 feet higher than the city of Sherman. Its land sits between 3,200 and 3,800 feet above sea level.
#40
In 1890, only 34 people lived in all of Sherman County.
#41
The town of Texhoma is split in two. One part is in Sherman County, Texas, and the other part is in Oklahoma.
#42
In 1901, the town of Stratford won an election to become the county seat of Sherman County. It took the job from a town called Coldwater.
#43
During the Dust Bowl, Sherman County got only about 10 inches of rain in all of 1933.
#44
The Stratford Feedyard in Sherman County could once hold 80,000 cattle. They ate about 1.5 million pounds of grain a day!

Questions people ask

What is a fun fact about Sherman, Texas?

Sherman's first post office was an old coat. The postmaster hung it on a branch of a pecan tree on the town square and stuffed the letters into its pockets.

Is Sherman County the same as Sherman, Texas?

No. Sherman, Texas is a city in Grayson County in North Texas. Sherman County is about 430 miles away in the Texas Panhandle. Both are named after General Sidney Sherman.

Who named the streets in Sherman, Texas?

A 12-year-old girl named Julia Shannon named Sherman's first streets. She chose Texas heroes like Travis and Crockett and trees like Walnut and Pecan.

Fun Facts About Sherman, Texas