Krum, Texas

Krum is located at 33°15′53″N 97°14′8″W (33.264818, -97.235665).[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.4 km²), all of it land.[7]

As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 1,979 people, 681 households, and 561 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,007.7 people per square mile (389.8/km²). There were 703 housing units at an average density of 358.0 per square mile (138.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.43% White, 0.25% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.51% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.63% from other races, and 2.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.95% of the population.

There were 681 households, out of which 46.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.3% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.5% were non-families. 14.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 30.2% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 35.1% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 6.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $52,778, and the median income for a family was $57,650. Males had a median income of $40,278 versus $28,527 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,642. About 1.6% of families and 2.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.7% of those under age 18 and 6.0% of those age 65 or over.

Krum is served by the Krum Independent School District , which is a UIL Class AAAA school. There are five public schools located in Krum; Early Education Center, Hattie Dyer Elementary School, Blanche Dodd Intermediate, Krum Middle School and Krum High School. Krum offers football for every grade and Krum has gone almost undefeated and, its boys basketball team is among the best in Class AA. A recent bond election that would have added a football stadium was defeated in 2006. In 2007, the citizens of Krum passed a school bond that constructed a football stadium and expanded the gym area for the implementation of a football and volleyball program.

Krum is on Farm Road 1173 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Denton in west-central Denton County.

The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway ran a line through western Denton County in 1884. In the fall of 1886, Mr. L.L. Finley sold 200 acres (0.81 km²) off the south end of his farm to the railroad for a town site. With this began the building of a business community in Krum. The company bought 200 acres (0.81 km²), platted a townsite, and named the community for one of its employees, Charles K. Krum shown as a railroad official.

Mr. Finley opened a general merchandise store in the new town on the lot now owned by the Harpool Seed Company. The Santa Fe moved in a boxcar to serve as a depot. By 1887, the depot and section house were completed and the railway had built the first house in Krum for the home of their agent. It was built east of the railroad on the site later known as Knight's Bee and Chicken Farm.

The Post Office came in 1888 and was first housed in the Finley Store with Mr. Finley handling the mail. By 1888, R.R. Turner had started a blacksmith shop on the south side of the main street and Amos Rowley had a saloon on the north side. R.C. Scripture sold hardware, harness, clothing, and other merchandise from a large store where the bank now stands.

In 1891, Dr. W.G. Kimbrough opened a drugstore and began the practice of medicine. Arthur Jackson set up a lumber yard where one continued to be opened until recent years. The office faced the main street on the south. John Boyd opened a barbershop next door on the east.

The one-room schoolhouse was moved from North Hickory Creek in 1891 and placed on the ground where the present high school stands. The Methodist congregation continued to use it as their meeting house. The Literary and Debating Society was organized and met in the school. All of the young people in the area joined. In that year also, the second house was built in Krum for a young bachelor, W.H. Henshel.

In 1894, Reuben ("Pony") McGee opened a hardware and feed store on the south side of the business street, next door to the lumberyard office, on the west. He built the third house in Krum for his family. Mr. McGee performed a public service by providing a watering trough for farmers' teams at a well behind his store.

Dr. W.H. Kimbrough's sons, Walter and Wallace, completed their medical education at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, and joined their father in Krum.

By 1899, the telephone and telegraph had arrived. The Baptist congregation had moved their church building from North Hickory Creek into town, and the members of the Church of Christ built their meetinghouse that year.

In addition to other businesses already established, June Benton had a livery stable that covered all the lots from the present Muncy Building to the washateria, and was busy renting buggies and teams. Frank Shifflett and Brent Jackson owned a wagon yard adjoining the livery stable on the north. There was a cotton gin, a restaurant, short-order house, and a dry-line delivering freight.

W.T. Ginn had built a hotel earlier in the 1890s. It was later owned by the Butterworths for many years, then by the Chitwoods, and finally by Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Ericson. The roomy old house was recently torn down and the lots sold.

In 1898, S.D. Chadwell built a fine hotel on three lots, which is now a brick building occupied by Kountry Store, Krum Korral, and Fowler Hardware. The hotel was a one-story wooden structure surround by a white picket fence. Facing the alley in back were stables, a cow shed, coalhouse, and other necessary out-door facilities.

Inside, the floors were covered with an elegant turkey-red carpet, which was the talk of the countryside. There were rooms for "drummers" to display their merchandise and merchants came from miles around to buy. Unfortunately, this asset to the community was destroyed by fire and was not rebuilt. The site would eventually be taken up by a brick building constructed in 1976 and occupied by Kountry Store, Krum Korral and Fowler Hardware.

The community reported a population of seventy-five in 1892, and by 1900 it was thriving, with a number of businesses, four churches, and a school. Also in 1900 the railroad shipped at least half a million bushels of wheat, prompting the claim that Krum was the "largest inland grain market in the world."

In 1905 the Flour Mill and Elevator Company and three other elevator companies were operating at the community. The mill burned in 1915, and changing storage and marketing practices eventually closed the remaining elevators.

Krum's growth and prosperity continued until about 1925, when its population reached 750. The community declined as cars and trucks began carrying trade to larger markets and as young people departed for college or city jobs.

With the Great Depression years, the town's population level dropped below 300, then stayed low in the post-World War II period, ranging between 300 and 400 until the 1970s, when the sprawl of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area northward brought suburban homeseekers in increasing numbers.

Access from Krum to Interstate Highway 35 made commuting to city jobs convenient, and the community's population rose to 605 by 1978, to 917 by 1982, and to 1,542 by 1990. In 2000 the population was 1,979.

The Quebe Sisters Band violin and vocal stars, Grace, Sophia and Hulda Quebe, grew up in Krum. They tour nationally and have performed at the Grand Ole Opry. The band is now based in Fort Worth.

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  Downtown Krum
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  Downtown Krum
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  Downtown Krum

• Della Isbell Davis, Krum, Texas the Story of a Small Town (originally published in 1976).
• Kathleen E. and Clifton R. St. Clair, eds., Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe Graphic Arts, 1982).

• City of Krum official website
• Krum ISD
• Krum Heritage Museum
• Cub Scout Pack 136, serving Krum
• Boy Scouts Troop 136, serving Krum
• Krum United Methodist Church register, 1886-1925, hosted by the Portal to Texas History