Bank of Windom

Windom grew up as a flag stop. The Handbook of Texas says the settlement began about 1870, early settlers included Nancy Fitzgerald, Abraham McClellans, Jacob Baldwin and Maj. James Donaldson, and the Texas and Pacific reached it in 1872. Local legend gives the name to its windblown location. By 1885 it had a post office, a school and a number of churches, and the population stood at 312 in 1900, the year the private bank opened. Windom incorporated in 1918, and U.S. Highway 82 was paved through in 1924.

What the plaque says

Bank of Windom Recognizing a need for banking services, a group of local businessmen opened the Private Bank of Windom in 1900. Originally, the bank operated out of F.C. Council's store but relocated to a new brick structure on the corner of Main and 2nd streets in 1902. Although the name and organization of the bank changed over time, the building continued to house the only bank in Windom. In 1964, it changed its name to Fannin National Bank and in 1976 moved to a modern facility. By providing sources of capital for construction and agricultural projects, businesses, and homes, the Bank of Windom has contributed to the community's growth and prosperity for generations. (2018)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sam Rayburn House State Historic Site — 12 mi
  The two-story farmhouse west of Bonham that the longtime Speaker of the House built in 1916 and kept as his home, left as he lived in it and open as a museum since 1975.
• Cooper Lake State Park — 24 mi
  Two units on Jim Chapman Lake, a Corps reservoir proposed in the late 1930s, stalled by a lawsuit until 1984 and dedicated in 1991, with a 10.5-mile equestrian trail and wildlife land around it.
• Evergreen Cemetery — 26 mi
  Paris's town cemetery since 1866, with a carved-stone gallery that includes the Babcock monument in cowboy boots, and the grave of the three-year-old whose death led to the 1893 lynching of Henry Smith.
• Sam Bell Maxey House State Historic Site — 26 mi
  The Italian-villa-style house in Paris, finished in 1868 with a lawyer's fees, where a Confederate major general turned U.S. senator and two later generations of his family lived.

More markers nearby

• The Sam Rayburn Homesite — 2.5 mi
• Crockett Park — 4.9 mi
• Honey Grove City Hall — 5.3 mi
• Honey Grove Lodge No. 164, A. F. & A. M. — 5.3 mi