BANKS, TEXAS. Banks was on Sheep Creek two miles south of the site of present McGregor in western McLennan County. It was established in 1880 by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, when that line was laying track between Temple and Fort Worth. A post office, with Thomas H. Baker as postmaster, was established at Banks in April 1882, when the community's population was estimated at 200. Later that year the Texas and St. Louis Railway crossed the GC&SF two miles north of Banks; the railroad company decided that the second site would be a better place for a town, and McGregor was established. Many residents of Banks accepted the railroad's offer to exchange their property for lots in McGregor, and several businesses moved as well. In October 1882 the post office was transferred to McGregor, and Banks faded quickly.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dayton Kelley, ed., The Handbook of Waco and McLennan County, Texas (Waco: Texian, 1972). William Robert Poage, McLennan County Before 1980 (Waco: Texian, 1981).
