County History County Seat
COUNTY SEAT
The county seat of Collin County is McKinney, named for Collin McKinney, early county resident and one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
The first county seat of Collin County was Buckner. In 1846 when the county was created it was the county’s only town. The county administration was started in the McGarrah store at Buckner.
The state law said that the county seat of all of the newly created counties had to be within three miles of its geographic center. The county was surveyed and it was discovered that Buckner was more than three miles from the center of the county.
An election was held in 1847 to determine the location of a new county seat. The two choices were the present location of downtown McKinney and a site about 1 1/2 miles south along Sloan Creek. Because many of the creeks were out of their banks and people could not get to the polls, only eleven people voted for the location of the new county seat. The vote was ten to one for McKinney. William Davis donated land from his survey for a town and for a public square for a courthouse.
The county seat of Collin County is McKinney, named for Collin McKinney, early county resident and one of the signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence.
The first county seat of Collin County was Buckner. In 1846 when the county was created it was the county’s only town. The county administration was started in the McGarrah store at Buckner.
The state law said that the county seat of all of the newly created counties had to be within three miles of its geographic center. The county was surveyed and it was discovered that Buckner was more than three miles from the center of the county.
An election was held in 1847 to determine the location of a new county seat. The two choices were the present location of downtown McKinney and a site about 1 1/2 miles south along Sloan Creek. Because many of the creeks were out of their banks and people could not get to the polls, only eleven people voted for the location of the new county seat. The vote was ten to one for McKinney. William Davis donated land from his survey for a town and for a public square for a courthouse.
