City of Wylie

Located in south central Collin County, Wylie and Nickelville began as settlements on the west side of the east fork of the Trinity River. Pioneers began arriving in the area in the early 1850s, attracted by the plentiful water supply from the river, the productive soil of the Blackland Prairie and the offer of land grants by the Peters Colony. By 1883, a post office named Nickelville opened next to a drug store and, by 1885, there were three churches, the post office, a hotel and the Nickelville school. The town moved to a new location in 1886 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railroad company tracks were constructed just a half a mile north of Nickelville. That June, the name changed to Wylie in honor of colonel W.D. Wylie, the railroad right-of-way agent. The town quickly began to grow with new businesses and a steady flow of railroad employees. In 1887, the town incorporated and elected the first mayor, John Howard Picket from Nickelville. The next year, the St. Louis and southwestern railroad began construction in Wylie. Both railroads drastically changed the economy and landscape of the area, increasing agricultural production and spurring business growth. In the 1920s, onions became a staple crop in Wylie, eventually garnering the title, “Onion Capital of the United States.” Clothing manufacturing, the completion of Lake Lavon in the 1940s and the construction of a highway connecting Wylie to Dallas and Garland led to more growth in the area. In 1981, the TV series Dallas began filming in Wylie. The location of Wylie and its appealing resources have attracted residents since the mid-nineteenth century.

City of Wylie is a historical marker in Wylie, Collin County, dedicated in 2013. It is one of 193 historical markers documented in Collin County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 345 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 33.0129, -96.5394 near Wylie. The nearest cataloged historic site is First Baptist Church of Wylie (historical marker), about 0.2 miles away. Others within a short drive include Brown Cottage, Brown, Thomas and Mattie, and Wylie Cemetery.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507017547. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.