Telephone is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Fannin County

Fannin County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 31,242 people, 11,105 households, and 7,984 families residing in the county. The population density was 35 people per square mile . There were 12,887 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. According to the Handbook of Texas

Handbook of Texas

The Handbook of Texas is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Texas geography, history, and historical persons published by the Texas State Historical Association .-History:...

, the community had an estimated population of 210 in 2000.

Geography

Telephone is situated at the junction of Farm Roads

Farm to Market Road

In the United States, a farm-to-market road or ranch-to-market road is a state road or county road which serves to connect rural or agricultural areas to market towns...

 273 and 2029 in northeastern Fannin County, approximately 17 miles northeast of Bonham

Bonham, Texas

Bonham is a city in Fannin County, Texas, United States. The population was 10,127 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Fannin County. James Bonham sought the aid of James Fannin at the Battle of the Alamo....

 and 32 miles northeast of Sherman

Sherman, Texas

Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's estimated population as of 2009 was 38,407. It is also one of two principal cities in the Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

.

History

Although the first settlers arrived in the area during the 1870s, a community did not develop until the mid-1880s. The community received its name because the only telephone in the area was located in a general store owned by Pete Hindman. When Hindman applied for permission to open a post office, authorities repeatedly refused his submissions because the suggested names were already used by other post offices in the state. He finally submitted the name Telephone, which was accepted, and the post office opened in 1886. By 1890, Telephone had an estimated population of thirty. The community continued to grow in the following years and by the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the number of residents had increased to 100. Unlike many rural communities in Texas during the Great Depression

Great Depression in the United States

The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...

, Telephone's population remained stable at around 100. By the mid-1940s, the community had ten businesses and 280 residents. In 1990, Telephone had six businesses, a post office, and an estimated population of 210. That figure remained unchanged as of 2000.

Although it is unincorporated, Telephone has a post office, with the ZIP code of 75488..

Education

Public education in the community of Telephone is provided by the Sam Rayburn Independent School District

Sam Rayburn Independent School District

Sam Rayburn Independent School District is a public school district based in the community of Ivanhoe, Texas .In addition to Ivanhoe, the district also serves the communities of Telephone and Elwood in north central Fannin County....

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