The courthouse is the heart of the square. Built in 1875 by the architect Charles Wheelock in the French Second Empire style — a steep mansard roof, twin towers, decorative cut stone — it was said at completion to be the tallest building in Texas north of San Antonio. It was drastically remodeled in 1927, vacated in 1979, and then carefully restored: in 2006 it reopened as the McKinney Performing Arts Center, with the old courtroom, judge's bench and jury box intact, now a stage. When it first opened in 1876, a thousand locals came for a buffet dinner and a dance that ran past dawn.
A county-seat town grew here for two reasons: cotton and the railroad. When the Houston and Texas Central Railroad reached McKinney in 1872, the town became a regional shipping hub for cotton and grain, and the courthouse era was the era when, as people here still say, cotton was king. Gins, flour mills, and a cotton mill turned the rich Blackland Prairie soil into the town's livelihood for generations; by the 1920s Collin County was one of the largest cotton-producing counties in the entire country.
Why People Visit McKinney
Visitors choose McKinney for its handsome square, approachable museums, and easy walkability. It balances small-city heritage with everyday outdoor spaces, from the courthouse and Chestnut Square to the Heard sanctuary and the park trails. Families and day-trippers find a friendly layout and an unhurried pace, with year-round appeal in its parks, paths, and public spaces — and the historic square always at the center of it.
