Honey Grove, Texas 
Honey Grove, Texas 1. Town Name/Origin
b. According to legend, in 1836 as Davy Crockett was traveling to join the Texas Army at San Antonio, he camped in a grove just west of the present town square, on the bank of Honey Grove Creek. In letters he wrote to Tennessee, he told of the ideal place where he had camped, the "honey grove." It was so named due to the abundance of honey in the hollow trees.
2. Town Location
a. Closest large city is Dallas
b. 90 miles SW of Honey Grove
3. Town Establishment
a. Incorporated in 1873.
b. In 1842, the first settler, Samuel Erwin, arrived to make the "honey grove" his home. Erwin was a friend of Davy Crockett. In fact, Crockett performed the marriage ceremony for Erwin and his wife. B.S. Walcott came to Honey Grove in 1848, laid off the town and sold building lots, and progress really began to speed up in the tiny town.
4. Population
a. Unknown population at time established.
b. Peak 4,000
c. Now 1,746
5. Historical Information
a. Population grew steadily until around the turn of the
century, when cotton was "king." When the boll weevil appeared on the scene the
downward spiral started.
b. We have some panoramic photos of the town square taken around the turn of the century, and some other photos of the square at that time.
6. Famous Personalities/Historical Monuments
a. Erwin Evans Smith was born in Honey Grove in 1886. Mr.
Smith became a famous chronicler of life on the plains and ranches of the American West
through his photographs of western scenes. He was often called "the greatest
photographer of the Old West." He took more than 2,000 photographs of scenes from the
life of the cowboy. He also served as a design consultant for the Great Stone Faces at
Mount Rushmore. His Indian photographs were used to help design the buffalo nickel. The
entire Smith Collection of original negatives is preserved at the Library of Congress. His
pictures now form one of the permanent exhibits of the Texas Memorial Museum in Austin. A
book titled LIFE ON THE TEXAS RANGE, published by the University of Texas Press,
features the Texas Museum's selection of Smith pictures. Smith died in 1947 and is buried
at the Oakwood Cemetery in Honey Grove. His grave is marked by a Texas Historical Marker.
The book A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey, tells the fictionalized story of the Walcott family of Honey Grove. Mrs. Hailey is a descendent of the Walcott's. A recent TV miniseries of the book received excellent reviews.
b. Historical markers in area.
The town is full of lovely Victorian Homes. Several of
them have third floor ballrooms. Around the turn of the century, the social life was very
active in Honey Grove. There are also some other homes built in unique architectural
styles. A drive by tour map is available at the local library and at other businesses in
town.
A booklet titled Historic Homes of Honey Grove is for sale for $5.00 a copy, plus postage at the library. The publication have photos and the history of most of the older homes in Honey Grove.
7. Annual Events
The Honey Grove Roundup Club sponsors a rodeo the weekend
closest to July 4 each year. They celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1995. The rodeo
runs Thursday through Saturday nights, with a parade on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Usually
there are events held on the town square during the week, which is called Western Week.
On the fourth Saturday in August, the Chamber hosts a lunch stop for the Bug Tussle Trek. The Trek is a tour by antique car clubs from the Dallas area. They bring their lunch and stop at the Civic Center in Honey Grove. There are usually over 100 antique and classic autos on the square during their stopover.
The annual Davy Crockett Day is a festival held each year on the first Saturday in October, and sponsored by the Chamber. Information on all of the events may be obtained from the Honey Grove Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 92, Honey Grove, TX 75446. Telephone 903-378-7211
8. Restaurants/Recipes
There are several good places to eat in town. Full service
restaurants are Doc's Corner, The Garden, and the Red Brick Grill. There is also a Dairy
Queen, and the Kwick Check convenience store has take out food.
An original recipe was developed in Honey Grove during the 1920's or 1930's. It is called Slang Jang and is not for everyone. However the old-timers love it. It is a cold soup and served with crackers. People used to go to the picnic area at the City Lake and have Slang Jang suppers. There have even been Slang Jang contests, with the locals trying to see who makes the best version. There are several ways to make it with the main difference being the type of meat used. Some people prefer oysters and others like salmon or vienna sausage. They will argue at length defending their favorite.
SLANG JANG
2 cans stewed tomatoes 2 large dill pickles, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped Tabasco sauce to taste
2 cans oysters, chopped or 1 can salmon or 2 cans vienna
sausage, chopped.
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients together and put in ice cubes to chill it. When is cold, take out the ice cubes remaining and serve in bowls with saltine crackers and extra Tabasco.
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Site designed by Mary A. Thurman, Hall-Voyer Foundation. For comments about site, e-mail mayfield@honeygrove.org. For information about library, e-mail hallv@1starnet.com. Please notify if broken links found. Site created March, 1999. Reviewed February, 2008.