Waketon General Store (Flower Mound Heritage Walk) - Flower Mound, TX
N 33° 03.907 W 097° 04.882
14S E 679112 N 3660141
A sign on the Flower Mound Heritage Walk provides a little background about the old Waketon General Store, noting its importance to the business district, and relating a story that has something of a tie to Bonnie and Clyde.
Waymark Code: WMRN53
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/11/2016
Views: 1
The Flower Mound Heritage Walk is located in the Robertson's Creek Shopping Center, and can be found behind the Starbucks. Today, Waketon is part of Flower Mound, and besides Mr. Wakefield's old house (northwest of here), Waketon Road is just south of here, about the only remnants of what once was. An inset shows a painting, by Bill Bradford, of the old store, and the sign says:
Retail in Waketon was limited to the Waketon General Store which was built in 1881 a few hundred yards of where you're standing now. The first retail outlet in the area included a post office, barber shop, blacksmith and doctor's office. In 1934, Raymond Hamilton, a well known desperado and once-member of the infamous Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow Gang, stopped here for gas while on his way to rob the Lewisville Bank.
Wayne Calvert, a 6 year-old resident of the store at the time, recalled the incident: Raymond Hamilton and T.R. Brooks pulled up their shiny new car underneath a giant Post Oak tree that stood outside the store. Most locals at the time drove a Model T or rode a horse. Hamilton entered and asked for change for a twenty dollar bill to pay for gas. Sealie, the owner's wife, didn't have the change which caused the duo to leave for a short time. Hamilton and Brooks returned shortly thereafter with smaller bills and filled up their tank. They then drove to Lewisville and robbed the First National Bank of $500. A road-block was set up immediately and police caught the hapless duo in Howe, Texas. When asked why he robbed the bank, Hamilton replied, "Times are so hard we don't even have the money to pay for gas!" After several escape attempts from several different prisons, Hamilton was sentenced to death by electric chair in 1935 at the age of 21 for a murder he committed while escaping from prison with the assistance of the infamous Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.
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While the 1967 movie shows Bonnie and Clyde attempting to rob the Ponder State Bank (not far from here, to the northwest), only to find that it had failed a week before, it was actually Raymond Hamilton who tried to do the robbing, in 1934. These failures should have suggested another career path for him.
Group that erected the marker: City of Flower Mound
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
5801 Long Prairie Rd
Flower Mound, TX USA
75028
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