In 1874, as the Houston and Texas Central Railway Company expanded north from Houston to Denison, Texas, water stops were needed every 7 - 10 miles to supply steam locomotives. At this site, Irish immigrants built a stone dam to create a reservoir that filled a water tower west of the railroad tracks, and German immigrants later maintained the water stop. The foundations of the tower and pump house still remain, though the section house where workers lived is gone. In 1912, the need for more water led to construction of a larger dam just south on Cottonwood Creek, which submerged the earlier dam. In the 1960’s, the 1912 dam was breached, revealing the original 1874 dam, which is thought to be the only railroad water reservoir dam of its kind left in the United States. Allen Station played an important role in the development of North Texas.