Celebrate Allen's 150th anniversary at downtown festival April 25

The event will be from 3-9 p.m. in downtown Allen and include food trucks, live music, carnival rides, local shopping, a drone show and more.

To celebrate the city’s history as a railroad town, the event will be located in downtown Allen where the original train depot was located until it burned down in a fire in the late 1940s, according to the Allen Heritage Guild’s website.

Leadership Allen Class 10, Allen Parks and Recreation, the Allen Heritage Guild and the Allen Chamber of Commerce, with funding from the Allen Community Development Corporation, reconstructed a replica of the depot in 2003. This will serve as a focal point for the event.

“It brings us back to the place where it all started,” said Chelsey Aprill, the city's director of public and media relations.

The city is providing a shuttle service that will pick guests up at Allen High School and drop them off at Allen Flower Shop, one of the city’s oldest businesses. Although there will be designated drop-off spots for Uber and Lyft, Aprill said the city is encouraging attendees to utilize the shuttle.

Attendees can also visit the Allen Public Library, where there will be displays showcasing the growth in the 1980s when development in the area began rapidly increasing, Aprill said.

Rodenbaugh's Appliances Outlet will have paintings in its windows depicting the city’s history as well.

The backstory

Although Allen was founded in 1876, most of the growth didn’t begin until the early 1900s when Texas Traction Co. built an electric railway from Denison to Dallas, Allen Heritage Guild President Paula Ross said.

“The church and the school were the first properties that were built,” Ross said.

By 1884, the town of Allen had three churches, a flour mill and a population of 350, according to the Allen Heritage Guild.

• 1930: Lone Star Gas delivery started
• 1953: Allen was incorporated into Collin County with a population of 400
• 1960: US 75 was constructed through Allen
• 1967: Allen library founded
• 1968: first police chief hired
• 1975: land was purchased for the post office
• 1979: City Council established
• 2005: population of Allen reaches 70,381
• 2019: Allen population reaches 105,630
• 2026: Allen celebrates 150 years

“Everybody needs to have a sense of place, a sense of community,” Ross said. “ I think a shared history like that is important to people. It grounds you and brings us all together.”

Get involved

Residents can find more information on volunteer opportunities, sponsoring the event and other ways to join the community celebration at www.allen150.org.

“It’s a moment to pause and commemorate how far our journey has taken us in this wonderful community,” Aprill said.