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The city of Quinlan began about 1892 as a stop on the Texas Midland Railroad. Owned by famed bond investor Hettie Green, called by the contemporary press "the witch of Wall Street," the railroad was operated by her son, Edward H. R. Green. Texas Midland became a subsidiary of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad, and the city which built up around a depot constructed here between the towns of Roberts and Greenville was named Quinlan in honor of George A. Quinlan, the general manager of the Houston & Texas Central Railroad. A post office opened in Quinlan in 1894, and by 1896 the city was incorporated. Harry Ford served as first mayor. Quinlan soon became the center of a large agricultural area, providing a railroad shipping point for growers of cotton and other crops. By the early 20th century the town boasted three cotton gins, numerous businesses and fraternal organizations, banks, schools, churches, and homes. Oil exploration and production overtook cotton farming as the area's economic base in the 1930s and 1940s, and the construction of Lake Tawakoni in the 1950s brought another economic boost to the community. |
