"The Birth of a City"

"The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do for themselves in their separate, and individual capacities."

--Abraham Lincoln, July 1, 1854

Click on link to skip the election notice and jump ahead to the story.

Richardson, Texas in the 1920s

As the year 1925 began, the citizens of Richardson could look back with pride at a quarter century of progress. In 1900 and again in 1914, new schools were built. In 1901, the town's first telephone company was incorporated. In 1904, the first bank was established. In 1908, the Interurban-a faster, cheaper, and more frequent form of transportation-arrived, and in 1912, electrical power became available for the first time. During this same period, automobiles began replacing the horse and buggy, which led in turn to the streets being paved or graveled, the most noteworthy example of which was the red-brick-paved Richardson-Dallas Road (now Greenville Avenue). Only one important modern convenience seemed to be lacking: A system that would provide the town's inhabitants with a safe and reliable source of water, and also sanitary sewers. Up to that time, residents had only individual household wells or creeks to rely on for water used for drinking, cooking, and bathing, and family outhouses for answering the call of nature. But that was about to change.

The Quest for Water

In 1895, thirty years before the citizens of Richardson began to look to local government for the solution of their water problem, "Ira Huffhines…spent several thousand dollars in an effort to secure 'deep water' for Richardson," but after attempting two wells, was unsuccessful. After that, there was only occasional talk over the years "of organizing companies" and "putting down private wells, putting in private waterworks, etc." until 1915, when "Virgil Walton and others had the town surveyed, platted, and blue prints made to show about how much water could be used." Walton even went so far as to print up subscription blanks "for selling stock to user," but in the end, that effort likewise came to nothing.

Finally, about 1923, talk of constructing a city waterworks was revived, "with engineers visiting Richardson and making estimates of what the cost would be." Soon, it became apparent that if anything was ever going to be done about it, idle talk would have to give way to community action.

Mass Meeting Favors Incorporation

In mid-March 1925, The Richardson Echo remarked: "Every day and in every way, Richardson folks are realizing the need of a water system." One problem, the paper went on to say, was that the construction of new homes was being delayed or in some cases, "jeopardized by the fact that we have no water." Apparently out of desperation, editor Sam Harben (or a member of his staff) opined: "If money cannot be raised to put down a deep well system, why not a few gamble a few hundred dollars each on what can be done with placing a pumping station at Bowser Spring [now McKamy Spring]. This is feasible."

Finally, on Tuesday, April 21, 1925, a mass meeting was held at Walton's Lumber Yard, to discuss the town's lack of a waterworks and the ways by which such a system could be brought into existence. More than fifty "property-tax payers and leading citizens" attended. Also in attendance was a civil engineer from Dallas named O'Neil (either Matthew G. O'Neil or his son, Perry), who informed the gathered citizens of Richardson that if they wanted to provide themselves and their fellow townspeople with "a waterworks system which was satisfactory and permanent," they needed to "incorporate into a township or municipality." O'Neil likewise advised them as to the best way to go about it, including the sale of bonds, and promised to help at every step of the way, from drawing up a petition to selling the bonds to constructing the system itself.

When the meeting, at which there was no opposition voiced, concluded, all but three attendees signed an agreement or temporary petition, drawn up on the spot, pledging themselves to work in favor of incorporation. Unsurprisingly, Sam Harben's name was on the document, along with representatives of all the leading families of the town. Most were men, but five women also signed-Mary G. Huguley, Naomi Watson, Mrs. Lillie Ragsdale, Mrs. Gene Lawler, and Miss Viola Anderton.

The first step had been taken. Richardson was now on its way to becoming a city!

Incorporation

The City of Richardson was born on Monday, June 22, 1925, when 125 out of an estimated 150 legal voters went to McKamy and Reddick's general store at the southeast corner of Smith (now Main) Street and present-day Texas Street, to approve a proposal for incorporation, 112 to 10, "or nearly 10 to 1 in favor of the incorporation," adopting a commission-style government. At the same time, the store's co-owner, Tom McKamy, was elected the city's first mayor (see photo, right), with Earl E. Huffhines and T. A. Berryman to serve as the first two city commissioners.

"The election," reported The Echo, "was without any excitement, argument, or show of opposition." Although "there had been quite a little talk of a campaign against the incorporating," any opposition that existed "melted before the overwhelming desire of the majority to take this step." Simultaneously, voters also approved the city's proposed corporate limits, which included the original 121-acre townsite plus three additions -- North Richardson, Walton Place, and the Pittman-Stults Addition. As The Richardson Echo reported: "The corporate limits of Richardson [now] embrace about 640 acres of territory, bounded on the north by North Richardson, on the south by the Thomas place, with the Rippy farm on the west, and the Walton farm on the east being bounds." The Echo added that the aggregate value of property within the city limits was about $1,000,000.

The building, then known as the "Reddick Double Brick," where the City of Richardson was born on June 22, 1925, when voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots in favor of incorporation at the McKamy-Reddick grocery store, at the same time electing one of the store's owners, Tom McKamy, Richardson's first mayor.

Following a canvassing of the votes by the County Commissioners Court on July 6, a petition was presented to the commissioners, asking them to order an election "in the corporate bounds of Richardson, for the purpose of ordering bonds for the construction of a proper water system, this being the main reason for the vote of incorporating."

Click on link to see a map of the boundaries of Richardson, as approved by voters in 1925.

The new mayor and commissioners wasted no time getting down to business. No sooner had they been elected than they were on the road, making "a tour of the smaller towns that have recently installed public water systems" -- places such as Garland, Wylie, and Frisco -- where they sought to learn from the experience of those who had been through the process that Richardson was contemplating. In every town they visited, they met with knowledgeable people who were happy to help by answering any questions they had. The result, reported The Echo, was that Mayor McKamy and the commissioners "came home stronger for the water system than they had ever been before."