Although McKinney appears to be a young and blossoming community, it’s really a century and a half, 150, years old. People first started settling in McKinney (even though it wasn’t called "McKinney" at that time) in 1841 when President Mirabeau Lamar of the Republic of Texas required that 600 families settle into the Collin County area within 3 years at the rate of at least 200 per year. Each family that settled received at least 640 acres and each individual person got 320. Each colonist also got a gun, ammunition, and help in building a cabin. What a deal!! As many of you may or may not know, Fannin County was changed to Collin County in 1846 in honor of, you guessed it, Collin McKinney. In 1848 the Texas Legislature declared that all county seats should be located as near to the geographic center of the county as possible. So, Collin County moved their county seat 3 miles east from Buckner to McKinney. People wanted to name the new county seat after Collin McKinney, but since the county itself was his FIRST name, they called the city McKinney, after his LAST name. You can learn more about McKinney and your family history here at Family Heritage Week on April 25-May 2. See ya’ there!!!