Bishop

THE TOWN OF BISHOP WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1910 BY .F.Z. BISHOP ON LAND HE HAD PURCHASED FROM THE DRISCOLL RANCH. THE TOWNSITE WAS STAKED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ST.LOUIS,BROWNSVILLE & MEXICO RAILROAD LINE.

F.Z.BISHOP,WHO DREAMED OF BUILDING A MODEL TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE, MANAGED CONSTRUCTION OF THE TOWN. BISHOP PLANNED THE TOWNSITE AND DESIGNED THE BUSINESS DIS-TRICT TO HAVE A UNIFORM APPEARANCE WITH BRICK FACADES. BE BEGAN CONSTRUCTION OF AN BLBCTRIC PLANT AND WATER SYSTEM, PLANTED 600 PALM TREES AL0NG TBE STREETS, AND LAID THREE MILES OF SIDEWALKS IN TOWN. A IO-ACRE CITY PARE WITH A LAKE, BAND PAVILION AND DEER PARR WERE UNDERWAY. A FRAME SCHOOLHOUSE WAS BUILT, AND OPENED IN SEPTEMBER 1910. THE TOWN GREW QUICKLY, AND WITHIN TW0 YEARS THE POPULATION BAD GROWN TO 1,000. THE TOWN WAS INCORPORATED IN APRIL 1912; R.R.HALL, BUSINESS MAN- . AGER FOR F.Z. BISHOP, WAS ELECTED FIRST MAYOR. CHURCHES WERB BUILT. A TWO-STORY BRICK SCHOOL WITH A RAISED BASEMENT REPLACED THE FIRST SCHOOL.

ALTHOUGH F.Z.BISHOP DECLARED BANKRUPTCY IN 1916,THE T0WN CONTINUED T O GROW AND PROSPER. OIL AND GAS DIS-COVERIES IN THE 1940s CAUSED PETR0LEUM-RELATED INDUS-TIRES TO SUPPLANT AGRICULTURE AS TBE CHIEF ECONOMIC BASE. F.Z.BISHOP WAS BURIED IN BISHOP IN 1950.
(1996)