Settled in 1836, Bonham is one of the two oldest communities in the Red River Valley; the other is Clarksville. In 1837, Kentuckian Bailey Inglish constructed a log stockade and blockhouse (reconstructed in 1936) on the creek and soon thereafter donated land for the new town of Bois d’Arc. The Republic of Texas created Fannin County in 1843 from the western section of Red River County. When Bois d’Arc was named county seat in 1843, the county’s boundaries encompassed land that eventually formed twenty other Texas counties, in a vast domain that extended west into the Panhandle. In 1846, the town was renamed in honor of James B. Bonham, who died defending the Alamo. Early in its history, Bonham served as a way station and supply base for settlements and forts on the Texas frontier. The Texas and Pacific Railway arrived in 1873, making Bonham a division point, and the Denison, Bonham and New Orleans Railroad completed a second line from Sherman in 1895, bringing with it new industries, including the Bonham Cotton Mill (closed in the 1970s). Agribusiness and varied manufacturing support the economy today, while the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex extends into southern parts of the county.
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