Krum: Once the World's Largest Inland Grain Market

In eighteen eighty-six, landowners sold land in western Denton County to the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, and a town was born. The railroad named the new stop Krum, honoring Charles K. Krum, a railroad official whose details have largely been lost to history.

A community called Jackson had already existed nearby, but the rail depot drew everyone in. Krum's early story has a striking footnote: at the height of the wheat boom, it became what local boosters called the world's largest inland grain market, with farmers from across north Texas funneling their harvests through its elevators. Population today hovers around five thousand.