SCYENE, TEXAS. Scyene, now surrounded by Dallas, was at St. Augustine and Scyene roads in east central Dallas County. The community, originally called Prairie Creek and Thorpville, acquired its present name in 1854 when it established a post office. An early resident, James Beeman, originally proposed the name White Rock, but the state rejected this suggestion because several existing towns used the name. He then suggested Seine, as unlikely to be duplicated by other towns. His neighbors, however, did not trust his spelling and instead submitted their version, Sceyne, which somehow was altered to the present spelling. Scyene was the haunt of Kansas-Missouri border ruffians such as Myra Shirley (Belle) Starr,^qv who moved there in 1864, Cole and Bob Younger, and Jessie and Frank James. Before the Texas and Pacific Railway bypassed the town in 1873, Scyene had a population of nearly 300, six saloons, a school, a church, a Masonic Lodge, and twenty-six businesses, which included a wagon factory. It had fifty residents and two businesses in 1940. From 1950 through 1980 Scyene was reported to have a population of 155 and two businesses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: A Stake in the Prairie: Mesquite, Texas (Mesquite Historical Committee, 1984).

Susanne Starling