History  

Princeton began in September of 1888, when Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway extended its line from Greenville to McKinney and created a railroad switch on the land (known as Wilsons Switch. When the post office was established, Wilson could not be used since there was already a town named Wilson, so Princeton was chosen in honor of Prince Dowlen, a promoter of the townsite.
Princeton flourished during the 1880 and 1890 and it became apparent that cotton and onion farming was going to continue this growth for years to come. For a short time, Princeton had one of the world largest market for bois d'arc logs. The first cotton gin was built in 1895 and by 1924 Princeton had three gins in operation. In 1936, (297) train cars of onions were shipped from Princeton. As years went by, onion farming was replaced by cantaloupe which has become a major crop for this area to date.

The first school building was erected on the northern part of the cemetery in 1898. The first church (Methodist) was built in 1895. The Baptists built their first church in 1900. In the early 1900's, there were two banks in Princeton, First National Bank and Citizens State Bank. These two banks consolidated under the charter of the Citizens State Bank in 1907.

Princeton was incorporated in May of 1912. By the 1930's the cotton and onion farming was so large, that Princeton representatives requested a migratory farm labor camp from the Farm Security Administration to be located in Princeton. This camp housed 300 to 400 migrants during the picking seasons until 1969 when the camp was closed. For a time in 1945, the camp was turned into a prisoner of war camp.

On May 3, 1948, a tornado struck Princeton causing an estimated $150,000 in structure and crop loss.

As the Princeton and the surrounding area continued to grow, so did the school system. From the 1940 to present, Princeton continued to build and expand its school system. Today, the Princeton ISD has (6) schools with an enrollment of approximately 2600 students from an area covering 60 square miles.