The Legacy Of Legacy
PLANO (KRLD) -- The Shops at Legacy were built as part of Ross Perot's master plan for the over 2,000 acres that surround the Dallas North Tollway in Plano.
Starting in the late 1970's, Perot -- then Chairman of Electronic Data Systems -- started buying up land in what was called the "Golden Corridor" - the planned path for the Dallas North Tollway north of 635. Perot wanted to relocate EDS from Dallas to this area and encourage other corporations to do the same. He had several reasons for this, including the fact that most of his employees at EDS were already moving into Collin County and the northern parts of Dallas County.
In 1981, Perot hired Robbie Robinson to lead the development team of what was to become Legacy. Robinson was with the US Navy Civil Engineer Corps, in charge of the planning, construction and maintenance of 51 US Naval bases in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Robinson moved his family from Hawaii into a somewhat run-down farm house near what is now Preston Road and Spring Creek Parkway, on the over 2,000 acres EDS had just purchased. Robinson was to turn the flat prairie land and cow trails into one of the most notable concentrations of corporate headquarters and regional offices in the nation.
Hints of Plano's past can still be seen here and there in Legacy, including a historic cemetery. KRLD's Emily Trube went out in search of the story.
The Legacy Of Legacy
Buried in the Baccus Cemetery is Henry Cook, one of the original white settlers of Collin County. Cook moved his family from Illinois to northern Texas in 1846. His son Daniel died at the age of 17. His grave-site was the first in Baccus Cemetery and is the first recorded marked grave in Collin County.
The Collin County Historical Society and the Plano Library's Genealogy, Local History, Texan & Archives have extensive resources on the Baccus Cemetery. Both were very helpful in putting this report together.
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