Wills Point, Texas

The name comes from the family of tax assessor William Wills, according to the Handbook of Texas, and from the shape of the timberline that jutted onto the prairie near his home. Wills arrived around 1846 and built a double log cabin. In July 1856 he bought 320 acres on the Dallas–Shreveport Road and ran his cabin as a resting place for travelers.

The post office opened on September 23, 1870. The Texas and Pacific Railway reached town in 1873, and some accounts say the town was first laid out as Iola that year. Thomas J. McKain settled in 1873 and became the first mayor.

On May 16, 1877, the county voted 705 to 523 to move the county seat from Canton to Wills Point. That fell short of the two-thirds majority required. Wills Point claimed fraud, and the violence that followed needed the state militia (Handbook of Texas). On July 21, 1884, Wills Point became the first Van Zandt County community to incorporate.

By 1896 the town had churches, three public schools, the Wills Point Institute, hotels, cotton gins, an opera house and a newspaper, the Chronicle. Farmers shipped cotton, hides, grain, hay, livestock and fruit.

The Handbook of Texas describes a historic district with brick streets, a railroad depot museum and the original Wills log cabin. The Business and Professional Women's Club keeps the cabin. By the mid-1900s the town was known for its wild roses, elms and pecan trees. The Chamber is raising money to repair the Rose Monument downtown.

The Chamber hosts Boo on the Bricks, a downtown fall event, and Christmas on the Bricks, a December vendor market. Wills Point is also on the route of the Historic US Highway 80 Sale, a yard sale that stretches along the highway from Bossier City, Louisiana, to Grand Prairie. The sale's site lists it for the third weekend of April and October.

In 1995 the 74th Legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution 6, designating Wills Point the Bluebird Capital of Texas. The resolution credits the Wills Point Wilderness Society, which worked with the national Bluebird Recovery Program to build and monitor 179 birdhouses. It also notes that the National Audubon Society had found the community hosted more bluebirds than any other area in Texas for the 11th year in a row. The resolution marked the society's second annual Bluebird Festival, held April 20–24, 1995. It featured bus tours of the town's 10 bluebird trails.

Lake Tawakoni State Park is at 10822 FM 2475, about 11 miles north of town (roughly 25 minutes by road). According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, the park covers 376 acres of oak forest with more than five miles of shoreline on the 37,879-acre reservoir. It has nearly five miles of hiking and mountain-biking trails and a four-lane boat ramp. You can swim, paddle and camp there. The lake holds striped and hybrid striped bass, white bass, catfish, crappie and largemouth bass. Shore fishing inside the park needs no license.

Wills Point ISD has about 2,886 students on five campuses, according to the Texas Tribune's schools explorer, which uses state data. The campuses are Wills Point Primary, Earnest O. Woods Intermediate, Wills Point Middle, Wills Point Junior High and Wills Point High School. The district's teams are the Tigers. The Chamber notes the school system dates to 1886.

The city's airport, Van Zandt County Regional Airport, has a terminal building that opened in November 2014. It sells 100LL avgas. For a bigger outing, Canton's First Monday Trade Days is about 25 minutes southeast. It runs Thursday through Sunday before the first Monday of every month.