John Henry Rasor

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John Henry Rasor was a Plano, Texas, United States pioneer.

He brought his family from Kentucky to Plano in 1882, originally leasing 100 acres of land from a Texas state senator. Over time, the farm expanded and became one of the largest in the area, covering more than 4000 acres across Plano, Frisco, Allen, and McKinney. The operation was centered along Independence Parkway between Hedgcoxe Road and McDermott Road, in what is now Russell Creek Park. The headquarters later moved to the southeast corner of State Highway 121 and Hillcrest Road (the future southern extension of which will be named Rasor Boulevard upon completion by 2010). At its height, the farm's borders stretched roughly from Hedgcoxe Road to S.H. 121, and from Preston Road to Alma Road.

[edit] Recognition

In the early 1900s, a dirt road was renamed Rasor Road by Collin County. In the early 1990s, the City of Plano changed that name to Headquarters Drive, but by 2002, the City Council voted 6-2 to reverse the change and call the road Rasor Bouelvard. It will eventually run from Preston Road to S.H. 121, although only the portion from Preston Road to Ohio Drive is currently open. Another portion, linking Ohio Drive to McDermott Road is under construction.

In 2003, the City of Plano dedicated William Henry "Buzz" Rasor Park on McDermott Road, just west of Coit Road, after one of John Henry Rasor's grandsons. Buzz had served on the Frisco Independent School District school board and was known for warning the school system in the 1950s and 1960s to prepare for massive growth and the transformation of the sleepy farming town into a large suburb (his vision began to come true in the 1990s). He was often quoted as saying "Coit Road won't end until it reaches Oklahoma." He also sponsored the area's first Little League and was a major benefactor of Future Farmers of America.

In 2004 Rasor Drive, a residential street, was named in honor of the Rasor family in Frisco, Texas.

Rasor Elementary School is named after John Rasor, and currently includes Kindergarten to 5th grade.^[1]