Lolaville, Texas

Lolaville, Texas
Unincorporated community
Lolaville Show map of Texas Lolaville Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 33°05′50″N 96°48′19″W
Country	United States
State	Texas
County	Collin
Elevation	705 ft (215 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
GNIS feature ID	1378594[1]

Sign from fruit stand in Lolaville, TX

Lolaville was an unincorporated community in Collin County, located in the U.S. state of Texas.,^[1] near the present-day border between Plano and Frisco. It flourished in the early part of the 20th century but had all but disappeared by the late 1950s, as Texas State Highway 121 passed through the site of the community. After subsequent road expansion required the demolition of most of the houses, all that remained was a roadside fruit stand, for which Lola only charged a pittance of rent. The fruit stand displayed a sign bearing the name "Lolaville".^[2]

The remnants of the community disappeared during the 1990s, when the land was redeveloped.^[3]

Lolaville was named after Lola Kelsey Dunafan, whose father owned several hundred acres in the vicinity, including the site of present-day Stonebriar Mall. The particular four acres that became Lolaville were acquired in 1928. Lola's husband, Ernest, built a general store and several houses to be rented to black farming families.^[4] The black community was serviced by a segregated school at which Lola taught.^[2] After her parents died and were buried in Rowlett Creek Cemetery, Lola inherited the land and continued to live in her own hamlet until she retired to a nursing home and sold the land to developers in 1988. The transaction was brokered by Wayne Pickering, who was sentenced to 21⁄2 years in prison for bank fraud.^[5]

References

1. "Lolaville, Texas". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. 'Sourdough Crock' Needed for Crisis(registration required). Frank X Tolbert. Dallas Morning News Oct 29, 1962/
3. Lolaville - the intersection of Preston Road and SH121, Collin County History. Retrieved 2013-11-07.
4. At A Crossroads - Lolaville losing obscurity as land value is recognized(registration required). Steve Brown. The Dallas Morning News Jan 31, 1988/
5. Pickering sentenced to prison for role in Caprock theft(registration required). Bill Lodge. The Dallas Morning News. November 19, 1994/

• Collin County Appraisal District Land Records