From 1850 to 1867, fourteen families came to what is now the Argyle community via the Peters Colony settlement of North Texas. For protection, these early pioneers settled near one another. The families included: Daniel Cook, a farmer from Virginia; John M. Gibson of South Carolina; Jesse Gibson, a farmer from South Carolina; William H. Gibson, a farmer from Alabama; Spencer Graham from Tennessee; Frederick Hyatt, whose land was patented by his widow, Rody Rogers Hyatt; Richard Knight of Missouri; Rhoda King of Kentucky; Abraham R. Loving, a farmer from Kentucky; Edley C. Pritchett, a farmer from North Carolina; John Rogers, a farmer from South Carolina and his son, B. Matthew Rogers. Of these original patents (the instrument by which public land is granted to a person) issued, six were patented by the heirs of Cook, Hyatt, Knight, Pritchett and two for B. Matthew Rogers and John Rogers.

The pioneers of the Argyle community suffered many of the same legal problems in establishing clear title to their land as other Peters Colonists throughout North Texas. A succession of events beginning in 1846 led to dissatisfaction of the Colonists with the company agent, Henry 0. Hedgcoxe, who had given the Colonists a deadline of August 4, 1852 to establish their claims. This dissatisfaction, known as the "Hedgcoxe War", led to action taken on July 24, 1852 at a Denton County meeting where Colonists resolved, ‘we heartily concur in the action of the fellow-citizens of our Colony, in ordering Hedgcoxe to leave the Colony, with all those associated with him.’ It was also agreed that Bogart and Throckmorton should resign their seats in the legislature, and ‘that as we are unwilling to enter into a long and expensive law suit with a lordly company of European Aristocrats, which would cost us more to support than our lands are worth and the crisis having arrived at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue, we will defend our homes to the last extremity, peaceable if we can -- forcibly if we must.’

A delegation from Denton County, comprised of James W. Chowning, A.P. Lloyd, John W. King, Daniel Strickland, Jesse Gibson and Samuel A. Pritchett (the son of Edley C. Pritchett) attended a meeting held in McKinney on July 29, 1852 to settle some of the Colonists' problems. Both Gibson and Pritchett were from Argyle. These sturdy pioneers had migrated to an unknown land to start a new way of life mainly for economic reasons. To meet the Peters Colony requirements, they had to reside on the land for three years, cultivate ten to fifteen acres, have the land surveyed and plainly marked, sign an oath of allegiance to the Republic, and build a good and comfortable cabin. Most Colonists were small prairie farmers who labored on their land and in their communities and were native citizens of the United States prior to migrating to Texas. Only 23% of the Colonists came from Europe. Statistics show that 52.5% of the Colonists were born in the Confederate States of America. A breakdown by state representation shows: 1.7% from Arkansas, 4.8% from Indiana, 8.9% from North Carolina, 9.9% from Virginia, 2.5% from Georgia, 17.6% from Kentucky, 3.6% from South Carolina, 5.5% from Illinois, 8.3% from Missouri, 23.1% from Tennessee, 8.8% from other northern states and 2.8% from other southern states. Their routes of migration indicated a possible antipathy to slave labor, as contrasted to the East Texas settlers.

Not having to pay for their land, the Colonists were able to support, in addition to preachers, teachers, lawyers and doctors, a comparatively large artisan and commercial class virtually from the beginning of settlement. Essentially compromising a farming settlement, the Colonists had moderately large families, owned comparatively few slaves, and as a group did not possess much education. For example, Spencer Graham was identified as being illiterate on the Peters Colony records. The criterion for being classified "illiterate" was that one could not read or write. Many of the Colonists signed their legal documents with an "X" or their mark. "The Colonists were articulate democrats and lost little time in establishing a local government and becoming politically potent in state affairs. While they had much in common with other Colony settlements in Texas, culturally, they were evidently a homogeneous intrusion into a slightly different environmental complex."

During the 1850's, another twenty-nine families settled in Argyle on unclaimed or vacant land, receiving their grants or patents from the Governor of Texas. Early abstracts indicate that members of the survey crews patented land for themselves in the Argyle area. This is verified by the listing of the surveying crews on the abstracts: specifically, the William Gazaway, Jesse Gazaway and Thomas Gazaway Surveys. Many people moved, and the land changed hands during the following decades. Legal documents indicate that some promissory notes were negotiated bearing an interest rate of 10% per annum. Most cash transactions were in Gold Coin of the United States.

By 1860, another sixteen tracts were patented for settlement. Four in 1870, six in 1880, one in 1890 and three in 1900 completed the eighty-three Land Surveys studied in the Argyle area. Of the eighty-three patents, ten were to railroad companies (Buffalo, Bayou, Brazos Railroad Company - BBC & C; Texas & Pacific Railroad Company - T & P; and Memphis, El Paso Railroad Company - MEP) and totaled some 7,362 acres of land. Texas land policy was to give land to railroad companies to encourage building of railroads throughout the state.

The coming of the railroad changed the lifestyle of the inhabitants in the small settlements South of Denton. Between 1880 and 1882, the Texas & Pacific Railway laid its tracks through the Cross Timbers from Aubrey through Denton and Roanoke and on to Fort Worth - thus the birth of Argyle on November, 7, 1881, located one-half mile south of the Graham settlement. A warranty deed, dated October 17, 1881, details the establishment of Argyle. The deed was issued to James Morrill of the county of Galveston and the State of Texas by Amos Morrill of Jefferson. The deed states that "James Morrill in consideration of the construction and maintaining a Depot, side tracks and switches by the Texas and Pacific Railway Company upon the Transcontinental Branch of said Railway Company in Denton County, Texas, seven miles South of the Town of Denton and the further consideration by said Company laying out in Block, Lots, and Streets a portion of the Headright survey in the name of John Davis and to be known by the name of "Argyle" have bargained, sold and released and these presents do bargain, sell, release and convey unto the said Texas and Pacific Railway Company all of Blocks, Numbers, Seven, Fifteen, Sixteen, Twenty-one and Twenty-two and all of that part of Blocks Number Nine, Twelve, Eighteen and Nineteen in said Town of Argyle, that are on the John Davis survey as shown and represented upon the map of said town."

According to the Handbook of Texas, this area of settlement previously had been referred to as Pilot Knob and also as Waintown. 9 The popular story today is that Argyle was named for a garden in France by an anonymous railway surveyor who was apparently impressed by Argyle's peaceful and simple serenity. To further develop the area, T & P began to sell the lots on either side of the track for establishing a business community to serve the needs of the settlers. Farmers-turned-shopkeepers purchased these lots, and with the railway providing a means to transport and receive merchandise more easily and conveniently, a variety of services soon became available.

The train depot was located on the west side of the track and featured a loading dock, a storage room and passenger waiting areas. There was a big barntype room with plank floors. A pot-bellied stove which burned coal sat in a 2 X 6 square filled with sand (so that tobacco chewers could spit into it). The depot agent was always in his cage wearing a green shade pulled down over his eyes. Some of the agents were: A.G. Schnably, Peyton Wingo, Tom Wingo, Sonny Reed, Lala Cogdell Reed, and Orpha Jeter Wingo. Cattle pens alongside the depot were often full of cattle waiting to be loaded, about twenty per railway car. If one rancher did not have enough cattle to fill a railway car, his neighbor would add his cattle to make up the necessary number.

When Argyle developer James Morrill drew the plat of the town of Argyle in 1881, he used three basic types of names for the streets. East and West Front Streets parallel the railroad tracks. The four streets that run east and west on the east side of the tracks are named for established counties: Rusk, Denton, Dallas and Collin. All other streets are named for trees: Pecan, Ash, Cedar, Oak, Elm, Cypress, Mesquite and Walnut.

Although the railroad brought people, more businesses and the mail to the Argyle community, it also brought tragedy in 1908 as recalled by Mrs. Leona Hicks. The T & P train wreck piled up railway cars like dominoes and the cattle roamed freely in the streets of Argyle with startled citizens staring out at the scene. Families who had members working in the railroad were quite concerned for the safety of their loved ones until it was confirmed that the train engineer had been the only human fatality.

Train cargo often reflected the activities or events that shaped Argyle's history - the cattle cars of the late 1890's, the agricultural products, the troop trains of both World War I and World War II. The local citizenry enjoyed waving to the soldiers and took sandwiches to the train windows to give to them while the train was stopped to unload cargo and mail. Often, in the early 1940's, school children walked to the train depot, paid their dime, and had a train ride to Denton as an end-of-the-school-year treat. The depot has since been moved away, while the "section houses" were bought by the Argyle Baptist Church and remodeled into Sunday school rooms. The railway section foreman's house is owned (1981) by Mrs. W.P. Carpenter, Sr., and is located across from the Post Office at the corner of Dallas and East Front Streets. Cargo of the 1980's includes agricultural products, coal, manufactured goods, and automobiles in every shape, color, size and style.

As a joint Bicentennial project, the Denton County Commissioners' Court and the Historical Commission named every road in the county and erected sign posts on each. To newcomers of the Argyle community, the road names may seem strange or unusual, but the Commission researched the historical significance of each name before making the final decision as a 1976 tribute to the early settlers of the community. As you drive down the road, names of the past will greet you; such as, Faught, Roark, C. Taylor, John Paine, Fincher, Jeter, Keith, Gibbons, Smoot, Alred, Johnson, Sam Davis, Crawford, Harpole, McMakin, and Frenchtown. New citizens also had an influence in naming such roads as Hilltop, Hickory Hill, Copper Canyon, Brush Creek, Stonecrest and Country Club Road. Housing additions such as Fairway Acres, Johnson Acres, Meadows Acres, Stonebridge, White Bridge Road, Country Club Estates, Rolling Acres, Spring Acres, Westover Estates, Fox Hollow Estates, and Happy Acres are nestled among the Cross Timbers that dot the countryside.