TOWN OF ST. PAUL, TEXAS

The Town was named after the Catholic cemetery, which was donated by the James Gallagher family in the late 1800's.    It is just east of Town Hall on St. Paul Rd.    St. Paul Road, at the time, was referred to as Scanlan Hill as the Scanlan's owned all the surrounding property.

The town of St. Paul, Texas, was established in 1971.   Formerly in the ETJ of Wylie, Texas, St. Paul was established to preserve the spacious, rural environment the residents had become accustomed to and to eliminate unnecessary taxes, rules and regulations of Wylie.

Financial requirements of St. Paul would be met by a 2% franchise taxes from Farmers Electric Co-op, Wylie Northeast Water Corp., and General Telephone Co. Road maintenance would be provided by Collin County.   Fire protection would be provided by Wylie.

The original population of St. Paul was 202, with 66 registered voters. Administration of the town would be handled by six elected officials (i.e. mayor, and five aldermen) and a town secretary. All elected positions would be volunteer two-year terms. The town secretary would be a salaried employee of the Town.

April, 1972, Mr. Don Hayter, the Town's appointed attorney, held St. Paul's first elections.   All residents over 18 years of age, and living in St. Paul for at least 6 months, were eligible to run for office.   The Town's first elected mayor was Mr. Darryl Gumm, who served from 1972 to 1974.  The first elected aldermen were John Scanlan, J. E. (Jesse) Gibson, Howard Finley, Philip M. Lawrence and Bob Hubenthal.

July, 1972, garbage pickup was provided by Tripletts at a rate of $4.00 per month.   Street names were decided upon, and signs were purchased for $7.00 each in 1981.

Interest in living in St. Paul was growing. By September 15, 1972, 90 more families were annexed into the town's boundaries.    August 17, 1973, an additional 109 properties petitioned annexation into St. Paul.   

April 1, 1973, St. Paul's first protection contract was finalized with the Wylie Fire Department.    A rate of $300.00/per fire was agreed upon.    The Town was required to establish a fund for fire protection.    Each family was assessed $25.00 per year, with a maximum of $50.00 limit and $1.00 per year thereafter to cover the expense. 

St. Paul, in order to meet growing needs for an organized development plan, a Planning and Zoning Commission was established May 18, 1973.      Five residents were appointed on the Planning and Zoning Commission.    These were Glen Pockrus, Barney Barnes, Blackie Lambert, Fred Hall and Howard Finley.   Town ordinances were established to determine lot sizes, building codes, and land use, and public health and safety.     Fees for inspections were established in April, 1975, at $2.50 per inspections, up to a limit of five inspections.

Early 1980's, the residents expressed an interest in establishing a volunteer fire department in St. Paul.    Fire department equipment was purchased from the City of Renner.     Wylie NE Water Supply Corp. purchased a 3/4 ton IHC utility truck which the Town of St. Paul had retained title during the compliance period. On March 8, 1982, Darryl Gumm was appointed the Fire Chief for the Town of St. Paul.

Small businesses began to open in St. Paul.   A city sales tax was passed by vote of the residents in April, 1983. 

June, 1984, Lakeshore Estates I and II petitioned annexation into St. Paul. 

Growing demands on the St. Paul infrastructure brought about the need for additional revenue.     By July 1984, St. Paul was approved as a Central Appraisal District.     A property tax rate was calculated at $.12 per $100 valuations of a resident’s property. People over age 65 with a property valuations of $75,000 or less were exempted from the property tax.

A cable franchise was approved in September, 1984, with a 3% franchise tax going to St. Paul.

A tax assessor/collector was hired in September, 1984, for $2,600 a year to manage the revenues.

October, 1984, the tax rate was increased to $.20 per $100 property valuation. 

The McKinney Courier-Gazette and The Wylie News were selected as the official publications of the Town of St. Paul to satisfy public notice requirements. 

An ordinance establishing a Municipal court passed April, 1986, with Mr. John Newton to serve a Municipal Judge.    Also at that time, an additional 160 acres of the Moussa properties were annexed into St. Paul.

Darryl Gumm and Howard Finley did all the logistics and paper work. 

Barney Barnes or C. C. Barnes put up money.

90% of paper copying and phone was donated by Joyce Pockrus as an employee of Gables & Sturch.

Joyce Pockrus was asked to be the secretary at the first meeting.   This meeting was held at the IOOF Hall on Paul Wilson Road, across the street from Jesse Martin's home.    Various people volunteered for council places.

Later, Town meetings and elections were held in Fred Scanlan's bait house, where Mark Stone's house was later located.  

A 99 year lease for $1.00 per year was obtained from Wylie NW Water Supply Corp. on their land for the original Town Hall.   The building was built with volunteer labor and materials, and revenue sharing funds and grant from the government.   Glen Pockrus handled the pouring of the slab, Jesse Martin, the roof and brick, painting was done by Glen & Jim Corrion, windows and doors were procured by Howard Finley, locks by Art Wise and sheetrock by Barnie Barnes.   The Cost of the building was $13,000.00 in Government funds including furniture.  The rest was out of pocket from residents of St. Paul.    A stainless steel time capsule was inserted above the door of the fire station, sealed in concrete at the original location.     Contents were believed to be a copy of original minutes, incorporation papers and a map.

When the building was to be dedicated, the date was delayed due to the death of Mrs. Gumm.   Two months later, the dedication was by Judge Buddy Newton.

Joyce Pockrus was the Secretary until 1994 and received no salary. 

The Town Hall was purchased in 1990.    William C. “Bill” Butscher donated labor and materials to convert warehouse space to the council chambers.    He also built the council table, western porch roof, and the cupola for the roof.     Robert London and Stuart Wallace also donated labor for the renovation.