History of Chico
City of Chico, Texas
The Town Square started out looking much like Harold
Lasiter's painting. As the town grew the square
changed and there was once a park-like area with a
boxing ring in the center and room for roller skating,
fiddlers and get-togethers. Later the area was
blacktopped and a portion of the state highway was
cut diagonally across the area bisecting it into two
triangles.
In 1997 the Texas Department of Transportation
financed a project costing $284,000 from TXDOT
discretionary funds, meeting a plea for traffic safety,
resulting in the "Squaring the Square" project.
Chamber of Commerce fund raisers and private
donations paid for streets and sidewalks in the
Square. Grass and trees have been planted. Twelve
lampposts and a matching clock were purchased with
donations, adding an old fashioned look to the square.
Personalized bricks bought by families and
individuals and businesses are being used for
decoration. A completed concrete pad is planned as
an entertainment area.
Lasiter's painting. As the town grew the square
changed and there was once a park-like area with a
boxing ring in the center and room for roller skating,
fiddlers and get-togethers. Later the area was
blacktopped and a portion of the state highway was
cut diagonally across the area bisecting it into two
triangles.
In 1997 the Texas Department of Transportation
financed a project costing $284,000 from TXDOT
discretionary funds, meeting a plea for traffic safety,
resulting in the "Squaring the Square" project.
Chamber of Commerce fund raisers and private
donations paid for streets and sidewalks in the
Square. Grass and trees have been planted. Twelve
lampposts and a matching clock were purchased with
donations, adding an old fashioned look to the square.
Personalized bricks bought by families and
individuals and businesses are being used for
decoration. A completed concrete pad is planned as
an entertainment area.
The M. Robinson Park on FM 1810, built through public and private
donations and maintained by a Park Committee which is not part of
the city, has a gazebo, picnic tables, basketball courts and playground
equipment and features a large pavilion, which can be rented for a fee.
Back to the Beginning:
Originally part of a survey of 1,920 acres of land belonging to the heirs of William Heresee, the
land became a settlement for several families including Cal Mount, Benjamin Booth, Sim
Odom, T. Merriman, H.F. Hawkins, Sr., Dave Manning, Allen Gore, Tom Traister and Adam
Johnson, among others. R.C. Mount bought this survey of 1,920 acres for 13 cents per acre
before the Civil War..
The area we now call Chico grew primarily as a trade center for surrounding farms. It
originated with a deed for 44 acres filed by RC Mount on October 27, 1876. Mount reserved
two acres for a school and a church.
Around 1875 Colonel Brown arrived and became a merchant and first postmaster of the
village serving the needs of the pioneer families. He paid $1.26 per acre for the townsite and
plotted the area designing a public square, a business section and residential lots. Brown
wanted to call this new town after his hometown of Chico in California. Other name
suggestions were Brownstone and Mountville. Four of the seven men voting in the election
officially named the town Chico. There are still descendants of the original pioneers living in
and around the city of Chico and there are streets bearing their names throughout the city.
The first school began three years before the town was organized and was replaced in just
two years by a larger log building which served also as a church and courthouse. The first
frame building, built in 1888 was the Brown Hotel which still stands. The Rock Island Railroad
was built through town in 1893 and the depot was built in 1902.
More information on the history of Chico may be obtained at the Chico Public Library, Inc. and
the Wise County Historical Society. Click on the Library button to see one of the original log
cabins. The Wise County Historical Society has a list of all the historical markers in and
around Wise County.
donations and maintained by a Park Committee which is not part of
the city, has a gazebo, picnic tables, basketball courts and playground
equipment and features a large pavilion, which can be rented for a fee.
Back to the Beginning:
Originally part of a survey of 1,920 acres of land belonging to the heirs of William Heresee, the
land became a settlement for several families including Cal Mount, Benjamin Booth, Sim
Odom, T. Merriman, H.F. Hawkins, Sr., Dave Manning, Allen Gore, Tom Traister and Adam
Johnson, among others. R.C. Mount bought this survey of 1,920 acres for 13 cents per acre
before the Civil War..
The area we now call Chico grew primarily as a trade center for surrounding farms. It
originated with a deed for 44 acres filed by RC Mount on October 27, 1876. Mount reserved
two acres for a school and a church.
Around 1875 Colonel Brown arrived and became a merchant and first postmaster of the
village serving the needs of the pioneer families. He paid $1.26 per acre for the townsite and
plotted the area designing a public square, a business section and residential lots. Brown
wanted to call this new town after his hometown of Chico in California. Other name
suggestions were Brownstone and Mountville. Four of the seven men voting in the election
officially named the town Chico. There are still descendants of the original pioneers living in
and around the city of Chico and there are streets bearing their names throughout the city.
The first school began three years before the town was organized and was replaced in just
two years by a larger log building which served also as a church and courthouse. The first
frame building, built in 1888 was the Brown Hotel which still stands. The Rock Island Railroad
was built through town in 1893 and the depot was built in 1902.
More information on the history of Chico may be obtained at the Chico Public Library, Inc. and
the Wise County Historical Society. Click on the Library button to see one of the original log
cabins. The Wise County Historical Society has a list of all the historical markers in and
around Wise County.
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