
03/08/2025
Traces of Texas reader Allison Riepe was researching her hometown of Lewisville, Texas when she came across this 1897 photo of Main Street in that fine North Texas town. Allison's great great grandfather, Morrison Smith, was a tailor in Lewisville and also a volunteer firefighter. He left behind some detailed descriptions of firefighting back in those days and Allison is going to transcribe one and send it in. I just read that the population of Lewisville is more than 111,000 people, which astonishes me: the city added 15 thousand residents from 2010-2020. Lewisville got its start in the 1840s. Bonus points on the next pop quiz if you remember that it was originally named Holford's Prairie.
Thank you, Allison. I love it.