Mansfield (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781467162715)

The establishment of Mansfield brought along a diverse community with a myriad of stories and cultural backgrounds, and the town became a beacon of quintessential Texas that readers will both appreciate and revel in.

Around 1856, Ralph Man and Julien Feild arrived at a small community among the oak groves bordering Walnut Creek. Here, they built a gristmill at the crossroads that would become the center of Mansfield. The steam mill they established ground grain into flour and meal and eventually served customers from San Antonio to Oklahoma. As the community grew, Dr. John Collier established the Mansfield Male and Female College, insisting the community be platted before the college opened in 1870. The community progressed with the arrival of the railroad between Fort Worth and Mansfield and the community's incorporation. With the building of the town's Memorial Hall in 1920, many of Mansfield's functions became centralized, and the town grew to be more than a collection of buildings and fields. It grew to be a reflection of the voices, histories, and cultures of those who settled here and shaped the rich, diverse identity of the town. This cultural reflection continues today with the city's rapid growth. New voices continue to add to the spirit that is Mansfield.

A special committee of the Mansfield Historical Society, along with the staff of the Mansfield Historical Museum, worked in collaboration for the creation of this book. All recognize and are grateful for the work of the Mansfield Historical Society in assembling the wealth of information and photographs contained in this book.