In 1881 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Company extended its line from Greenville to McKinney, passing through land owned by the brothers.

[6] In 1940, a camp of 76 cabins was built west of Princeton to house up to 400 migrant workers, who came to work during the onion and cotton seasons.

In February 1945, the site became a prisoner-of-war camp for German prisoners captured during the Second World War.

The park was built as a living memorial and shrine to those who served and died during World War II.

It is a major festival for the town that began in 2005 and is expected to occur on the fourth Saturday of April each year.

[1] On June 30, 2011, a Collin County District Court Judge issued a judgment ending a legal dispute over Princeton's southern boundary.

The State of Texas' Motion for Summary Judgment stated "that Princeton administration had 'unlawfully and improperly attempted to assert jurisdiction over a tract of land which the city never annexed and which is not lawfully within the corporate city limits,' according to Collin County court records.

"[10] "After three months in which no response of any kind was received from the city (of Princeton) in regard to the matter, the (approximately 100) landowners concluded that the city (of Princeton) was ignoring (them) and decided in November (of 2006) to refer the matter to the Collin County District Attorney for possible legal action.

"[9] "Included in the state's original filing on the case in 2010 is a corporate map of Branch that was legally filed in Collin County records in March 1975, showing that Branch owns (sic) the corner of FM 982 and FM 546 and part of the same land Princeton began claiming as its own in 2003.

"[9] Princeton's City Council minutes from July 11, 2011 state that "Councilmember Beauchamp made a motion to not appeal the Quo Warranto, Case No.

This decision was reported in The Princeton Herald on July 14, 2011 by Jamie Engle under the title, "City manager terminated, no appeal in 982 case."

In January 2015, a year long transparency study of 113 area cities, counties, and school districts was completed by The Dallas Morning News.

Greg Abbott said, "Residents from across the state that have expressed their concerns about feeling abused by the annexation process have had their voices heard.

I’m proud to sign legislation ending forced annexation practices, which is nothing more than a form of taxation without representation, and I thank the legislature for their attention to this important issue during the special session."

It’s a form of taxation without representation and it will not be tolerated in Texas…" [33] On November 8, 2022, Princeton brought the Home Rule issue before its voters for the fifth time since 2007.

This time, most of the administrators, who had been in favor of a ten square mile land grab that violated Texas law during the years of 2003 to 2011, were no longer in office.

The final tally can be found on the Collin County website under the title, "November 8, 2022 General and Special Election Combined Accumulated Totals.pdf (38 pages)."

"[36] The key rating drivers for the negative outlook are Princeton's diminished reserves, increased tax rates, slowed tax base growth, above average debt, and the city's inability to replenish unrestricted general fund balances to levels that provide adequate operating flexibility and financial cushion.

[36] Fitch notes the city's ad valorem tax rate is above average for Texas municipalities.

[36] A newer Fitch report, dated August 27, 2013, shows Princeton's business outlook improved from "Negative" to "Stable."