McKinney Residential Historic District
Roughly bounded by W. Lamar, N. Benge, W. Louisiana, & N. Oak, McKinney, TXThe McKinney Residential Historic District includes the city's most intact historic residential neighborhood. Most of the dwellings were built in the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, and only a small number of post-1937 structures are found within the district. Some of the town's most outstanding examples of residential architecture can be seen in this area. Because of its location near the city's commercial center, this neighborhood attracted a large number of McKinney's wealthiest and most prosperous citizens, many of whom were involved in retail or commercial trade. Among the more important were merchants Charles and John Heard, J.D. Stiff, and E.A. Newsome. The majority of the town's professional class also resided in this neighborhood, including Gideon Abernathy, Fred Emerson, Dr. O.H. Kirkpatrick, Dr. W.T. Hoard, and others. Of the 115 structures in the district, 91 are classified as contributing to the historic character of the district.
The neighborhood evolved slowly over a long period of time and presents a variety of architectural styles and types. This pattern of development is indicative of the relative stability of the town's growth. Unlike other towns of comparable size and age in the region -- Waxahachie for instance -- McKinney avoided the pitfalls of a boom-and-bust economy, which is most often characterized by a period of intense short-term speculation, followed by a sharp downturn in activity.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.