Sherman, Texas facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Sherman, Texas
City
Paul Brown United States Courthouse in Sherman
Motto(s): "Classic Town. Broad Horizon."
Location of Sherman, Texas
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Grayson
Founded	1846
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
Area
• City	46.22 sq mi (119.72 km²)
• Land	46.15 sq mi (119.52 km²)
• Water	0.08 sq mi (0.20 km²)
• Urban	35.9 sq mi (93.1 km²)
• Metro	979 sq mi (2,536 km²)
Elevation	735 ft (224 m)
Population (2020)
• City	43,645
• Density	953.56/sq mi (368.17/km²)
• Urban	61,900 (US: 438th)
• Urban density	1,722.9/sq mi (665.2/km²)
• Metro	120,877
• Metro density	130/sq mi (50/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP codes	75090-75092
Area code(s)	903
FIPS code	48-67496
GNIS feature ID	1368131

Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan statistical area, and is the largest city in the Texoma region of North Texas and southern Oklahoma.

History

Sherman in 1891

Sherman was named after General Sidney Sherman (July 23, 1805 – August 1, 1873), a hero of the Texas Revolution. The community was designated as the county seat by the act of the Texas legislature which created Grayson County on March 17, 1846. In 1847, a post office began operation. Sherman was originally located at the center of the county, but in 1848 it was moved about 3 miles (5 km) east to its current location. By 1850, Sherman had become an incorporated town under Texas law. It had also become a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail route through Texas. By 1852, Sherman had a population of 300. It consisted of a public square with a log court house, and several businesses, a district clerk's office, and a church along the east side of the square.

During the 1850s and 1860s, Sherman continued to develop and to participate in regional politics. The first flour mill was built in 1861. In 1862 the publisher of Sherman's anti-secessionist Whig newspaper, the Patriot, was murdered. During and after the Civil War, north Texas outlaw bands led by Jesse James and William Quantrill were seen in Sherman. Years later, James spent at least part of his honeymoon in Sherman, where he was photographed on horseback.

Education developed in north Texas during this time. The Sherman Male and Female High School started accepting students during 1866, under the patronage of the North Texas Methodist Conference. It was one of three private schools in Sherman at the time. This school operated under several names (North Texas Female College and Conservatory of Music beginning in 1892 and Kidd-Key College and Conservatory beginning in 1919) until 1935. It gradually lost Methodist support, after the opening of Southern Methodist University in 1915 in Dallas. In 1876, Austin College, the oldest continuously operating college in Texas, relocated from Huntsville to Sherman. Sherman Female Institute, later known as Mary Nash College, opened in 1877 under sponsorship of the Baptist Church. It continued operation until 1901 when the campus was sold to Kidd-Key College. Carr–Burdette College, a women's college affiliated with the Disciples of Christ, operated there from 1894 to 1929. Jews have had a long history in Sherman, too, settling in the area and meeting for the High Holidays by 1873.

While there was general depression and lawlessness during Reconstruction, Sherman remained commercially active. During the 1870s Sherman's population reached 6,000. In 1875, two fires destroyed many buildings east of the square. They were rebuilt with superior materials. This included a new Grayson County Courthouse built in 1876. In 1879, the Old Settlers' Association of North Texas formed and met near Sherman. The Old Settlers' Association of Grayson County incorporated in 1898 and completed purchase of Old Settlers' Park in 1909.

On May 15, 1896, a tornado measuring F5 on the Fujita scale struck Sherman. The tornado had a damage path 400 yards (370 m) wide and 28 miles (45 km) long, killing 73 people and injuring 200. About 50 homes were destroyed, with 20 of them being completely obliterated.

In 1901 the first electric "Interurban" railway in Texas, the Denison and Sherman Railway, was completed between Sherman and Denison. The Texas Traction Company completed a 65-mile (105 km) interurban between Sherman and Dallas in 1908, and it purchased the Denison and Sherman Railway in 1911. Through the connections in Dallas and Denison, it was possible to travel to the Texas destinations of Terrell, Corsicana, Waco, Fort Worth, Cleburne, and Denton, as well as to Durant, Oklahoma, by interurban railways. One popular destination on the Interurban between Sherman and Denison was Wood Lake Park, a private amusement park at the time. By 1948, all interurban rail service in Texas had been discontinued.

During the Sherman Riot of May 9, 1930, Sherman's elegant 1876 courthouse was burned down by arson during the trial of an African American man, George Hughes. During the riot, Hughes was locked in the vault at the courthouse and died in the fire. After rioters retrieved Hughes' body from the vault, it was dragged behind a car, hanged, and set afire. Texas Ranger Frank Hamer was in Sherman during this riot and reported the situation to Texas Governor Dan Moody. Governor Moody sent National Guard troops to Sherman on May 9 and more on May 10 to control the situation. Fourteen men were later indicted. Two were convicted, of arson and rioting.

Geography

Sherman is located slightly east of the center of Grayson County, between Denison to the north and Howe to the south. The city has a total area of 41.5 square miles (107.4 km²), of which 41.4 square miles (107.2 km²) are land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²), or 0.20%, are water.

Sherman is 70 miles (110 km) north of Dallas and 31 miles (50 km) southwest of Durant, Oklahoma. Gainesville is 32 miles (51 km) to the west, and Bonham is 26 miles (42 km) to the east.

Climate

Sherman is part of the humid subtropical climate area.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	35	—
1860	613	1,651.4%
1870	1,439	134.7%
1880	6,093	323.4%
1890	7,335	20.4%
1900	10,243	39.6%
1910	12,412	21.2%
1920	15,031	21.1%
1930	15,713	4.5%
1940	17,156	9.2%
1950	20,150	17.5%
1960	24,988	24.0%
1970	29,061	16.3%
1980	30,413	4.7%
1990	31,601	3.9%
2000	35,082	11.0%
2010	38,521	9.8%
2020	43,645	13.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

**Sherman racial composition as of 2020**
(NH = Non-Hispanic)
Race	Number	Percentage
White (NH)	24,248	55.56%
Black or African American (NH)	4,473	10.25%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)	490	1.12%
Asian (NH)	1,387	3.18%
Pacific Islander (NH)	24	0.05%
Some Other Race (NH)	134	0.31%
Mixed/Multi-Racial (NH)	2,310	5.29%
Hispanic or Latino	10,579	24.24%
Total	43,645

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 43,645 people, 15,687 households, and 10,097 families residing in the city.

Economy

In 2022, Texas Instruments broke ground to build an Integrated Circuit fab campus in Sherman. Beginning in the first quarter of 2025, Texas Instruments will begin operations at a new $30 billion, 3,000-job, 300-millimeter semiconductor wafer fabrication plant near Sherman's southern city limits. Around that same time, GlobalWafers will open a $5 billion, 1,500-job wafer factory nearby.

Top employers

Tyson Foods
Texas Instruments
II-VI Incorporated
Grayson County
City of Sherman
Cooper B-Line Systems
Austin College
Fisher Controls/ Emerson Process Management
Kaiser Aluminum
Presco Products
Progress Rail
Consolidated Containers
Plyler Construction
Starr Aircraft
Offen Petroleum
GlobiTech
Sunny Delight Beverages

Education

Administration Building on the Austin College campus

Public schools

Most children in Sherman are zoned to the Sherman Independent School District, which includes Sherman High School. Some parts are in Denison Independent School District or Howe Independent School District.

Private schools

A small percentage of children attend one of the three private schools in Sherman: Grayson Christian School, St. Mary's Catholic School, or Texoma Christian School.

Colleges and universities

Austin College, a private, Presbyterian, liberal arts college, relocated to Sherman in 1876. Founded in 1849, it is the oldest college or university in Texas operating under its original charter. Grayson College, a community college based in neighboring Denison, operates a branch campus in Sherman.

Libraries

The Sherman Public Library serves the city of Sherman and all citizens. The library underwent a $2 million, floor-to-ceiling renovation in 2017, reopening to the public in August 2018.

Media

A Herald Democrat location in downtown Denison

KXII television studio in Sherman

Magazine

Texoma Living! magazine

Newspaper

The Herald Democrat

Radio stations

KLAK Adult Contemporary 97.5
KMAD Mad Rock 102.5
KMKT Katy Country 93.1
KQDR Doc FM 107.3
KJIMKJIM The Memory Maker AM 1500 and FM 101.3 Sherman's Oldest and Newest Radio Station

Television stations

KTEN Channel 10 – (NBC)
KTEN DT Channel 10.2 – (The CW Texoma)
KTEN DT Channel 10.3 – (ABC)
KXII Channel 12 – (CBS)
KXII DT Channel 12.2 (My Texoma)
KXII DT Channel 12.3 (Fox Texoma)

Infrastructure

Sherman City Hall

Transportation

U.S. Highway 75 Oklahoma to Dallas
U.S. Highway 82 east-west: Georgia to New Mexico
SH 56 east-west: Honey Grove to Whitesboro
SH 91 north-south: Achille, Oklahoma to Sherman
SH 11 east-west: Linden to Sherman
FM 1417 north-south: Denison to Sherman
FM 691 east-west: Sherman to North Texas Regional Airport
FM 131 north-south: Denison to Sherman
FM 697 east-west: Whitewright to Sherman

Sherman is served by two U.S. Highways: US 75 (Sam Rayburn Freeway) and US 82. (The latter is locally designated as the Buck Owens Freeway after the famous musician who was born in Sherman.) It is also served by three Texas State Highways, which extend beyond Grayson County: State Highway 11, State Highway 56, and State Highway 91 (Texoma Parkway), one of the main commercial strips that connects Sherman and Denison, and also extends to Lake Texoma.

Sherman Municipal Airport

General aviation service is provided by Sherman Municipal Airport and North Texas Regional Airport/Perrin Field in Denison.

Wilson N. Jones Regional Medical Center in Sherman

TAPS Public Transit is the sole transit provider for Sherman, with curb-to-curb paratransit for all residents.

Medical care

The city of Sherman is served locally by Wilson N. Jones Regional Medical Center, Texoma Medical Center, and a Baylor Scott & White surgery center.

Sports

In 2023, organizers announced Sherman as the home of two new minor league sports franchises. A semi-professional baseball team called the Sherman Shadowcats will begin play in the Mid-American League during late spring of 2024. A minor league soccer club, Texoma FC, will begin play in the city during 2025.