Copeville, Texas

Everything Copeville is known for

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Music in Copeville

Songs About Copeville

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Artists From Copeville

C
Charlie Walker
country

Rivers & Roads in Song near Copeville

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Copeville.

Sulphur River 2 songs Sabine River 13 songs Interstate 20 13 songs Interstate 45 8 songs Trinity River 11 songs Red River 87 songs

History of Copeville

The Storm That Wiped a Town Away RoadyGoat

In the spring of 1927, Nevada was a working farm town with an opera house, banks, and cotton gins along its main street. On May 9 of that year, a tornado came down directly on the community, and when it had passed, much of the town was simply gone. Twenty-seven people were killed. Seventy-five more were injured. Property damage ran to roughly a million dollars, an enormous sum for a small Collin County town in 1927. Buildings that had defined the place for a generation were reduced to splinters and brick, and the survivors spent the days that followed digging through the wreckage for the missing. Nevada rebuilt, but the town never got back what it lost that day; the businesses and the people the storm took away never returned in the same numbers. So as you roll through, know that you're passing the site of the defining event in this town's history, a few violent minutes that rewrote everything that came after.

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Nevada, TX RoadyGoat

On May 9, 1927, a half-mile-wide F4 tornado ripped through Nevada, leaving 19 dead, 100 injured, and causing property damage exceeding $650,000. This devastating event led to a difficult recovery for the town, which eventually led to its disincorporation.

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The Science of the 1927 Tornado RoadyGoat

The 1927 tornado that devastated Nevada wasn't just bad luck; it was a textbook example of severe weather science. The storm formed under classic 'Tornado Alley' conditions: warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico collided with cool, dry air from the Rockies, creating extreme atmospheric instability. This instability, combined with wind shear—changes in wind speed and direction with height—caused the storm to rotate, forming a supercell thunderstorm. From this supercell, the tornado descended. Based on the scale of destruction, meteorologists have retrospectively classified it as an F4 on the Fujita scale, with winds likely exceeding 200 miles per hour. In 1927, there was no Doppler radar, no storm prediction center, and no warning system. People relied on sight and sound—a dark green sky or the roar of a freight train. The tragedy here spurred a deeper drive to understand and predict these violent weather events, leading to the advanced warning systems that save countless lives today.

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Prairie Grove Cemetery

1895

The Prairie Grove Cemetery served residents of the Aleo community from the late 1800s until the middle of the 20th century. The burial ground has ties to the Prairie Grove Baptist Church, which set aside land to be used for burials. The oldest known grave in the cemetery dates to 1895. World War II hero Audie Murphy lived in the area for a time, and his mother and grandparents are buried here. Victims of the 1927 tornado that came through nearby Nevada are also interred here. A vestige of rural settlement of the 19th century, the cemetery serves as a reminder of the pioneer community of Aleo. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005

Historical Marker → · 3.6 mi away

Lavon

1854

Located in southeastern Collin County, the rich soils of the Blackland Prairie and the water provided by Bear Creek attracted settlers to the Lavon area in the 1850s. Elbert C. Thompson came to the area in 1854 and others soon followed. Lavon began when the St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad came through the county in 1886. The first post office started in 1888 with Elbert Thompson serving as the first postmaster. Originally, the town was known as Thompson or Thompson Switch, after Mr. Thompson, who also owned a general store. To avoid confusion with another town named Thompson, the name was changed to Lavon in honor of Mr. Thompson's son, Bud O. Lavon Thompson. Early on there was a depot, meat market, general store, restaurant and barber shop. A bank building was built in 1907. James L. Rees, a Civil War veteran, and Miranda Rees' home was moved down the street to make room for the bank building. The Rees' home stands today as the oldest home in Lavon. Before a church was built, a two-story brick schoolhouse served as a place for people to worship. The Lavon Presbyterians organized in 1897 and erected a church in Lavon which served as a community church. Each denomination would alternate Sundays to provide a place of worship for the community until the late 1940s. From 1938 to 1940, a school building was built under the Works Progress Administration. In the 1950s, the creation of Lavon Dam attracted fishermen and boating enthusiasts to the area as a popular resort spot. Over the years, a number of businesses have been in Lavon, including a restaurant that filmed scenes for the 1967 movie, Bonnie and Clyde. The town incorporated in 1972. (2013)

Historical Marker → · 3.8 mi away

Nevada

1852

Located in southeast Collin County, the settlement of Nevada was on its way to becoming a booming commercial city until a disastrous tornado swept the town in 1927. In 1835, John McMinn, who received a land grant for 1600 acres, moved his family to what was later known as the McMinn Chapel community, four miles north of the present-day site of Nevada. Soon, the rich Blackland Prairie attracted more settlers to the area. In 1852, Granville Stinebaugh from Missouri purchased 160 acres and established Nevada. The town incorporated on Jan. 24, 1891. There were no denominational churches in the community at the time, but an old gin house serving as a place of worship for all faiths. In the 1890s, the town had Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Christian churches. The St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad, which later became the Cotton Belt Railroad, came to Nevada in 1888 and the town slowly moved closer to the railroad depot. As a result of the railroad, nearby settlers moved to Nevada and the town prospered with a booming commercial district. Restaurants, shops, hotels, offices and fraternal lodges filled downtown. In 1902, due to increased interest, John Evans purchased land east of town and opened the Evans Addition. In addition to economic priorities, Nevada also focused on the education of its citizens. Early on, classes were held in people's homes until a school was erected. Sadly, on Monday, May 9, 1927 at 2:20 A.M., a half-mile wide tornado completely destroyed the west side of town with 27 killed and 75 wounded. Even though a large portion of the town was destroyed, the citizens of Nevada continued to work and hope for future growth. (2013)

Historical Marker → · 3.8 mi away

Lavon, TX

1888

Lavon is on State Highway 78 two miles east of Lavon Lake in southeastern Collin County. The rich soils of the Blackland Prairie and the water provided by Bear Creek attracted settlers in the mid-1850s. The St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway laid tracks through the area in 1888. The community adopted the name Lavon in honor of Lavon Thompson, the son of E. C. Thompson, who operated the town's post office, established in 1888. The flag stop, on what became the St. Louis Southwestern Railway of Texas in the early 1890s, served as a commercial center for farmers and increased the population of Lavon from an estimated twenty-five in the late 1880s to 300 by 1910. In 1913 the Richard Royal chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution marked the grave of John Abston, who was buried near Lavon. Abston fought in the battle of King's Mountain during the war and later moved to Texas. The population of Lavon hovered near 200 through the 1930s and 1940s, and in 1940 five businesses served its residents. These population and business figures varied only slightly between 1940 and 1980, despite the construction of Lavon Lake in 1952–53, two miles west of town. The lake did, however, bring boaters, fishermen, and picnickers to replace farmers as the most frequent visitors to the community. In 1980 the newly incorporated Lavon had one business serving 306 residents. In 1990 the population was 303. The population grew to 387 by 2000.

Tsha Handbook → · 4.0 mi away

The Candy Montgomery Case - Wylie, Texas, 1980

1980

Candy Montgomery, a member of the First United Methodist Church of Lucas, Texas, killed Betty Gore at the Gore family home in Wylie on June 13, 1980, striking her 41 times with an ax following a confrontation about Montgomery's affair with Gore's husband Allan. Montgomery was acquitted on October 30, 1980, pleading self-defense. The case was profiled in Texas Monthly and dramatized in HBO's Love and Death (2023), starring Elizabeth Olsen.

Curated → · 8.4 mi away

Things to Do in Copeville

historical 10.3 mi away
Southfork Ranch

The filming location of TV's Dallas. JR Ewing lived here.
quirky 12.4 mi away
Southfork Ranch

The Ewing family TV mansion from the Dallas soap opera sits on two hundred acres in Parker Texas and is open for tours every day. JRs bedroom is there. The…

Everything Near Copeville

711 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the nearest 200 are listed here — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

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