Grayson County College Viticulture & Enology Program

History of the Project

The Thomas Volney Munson Memorial Vineyard is located on the campus of Grayson County College at Denison, Texas, in his beloved Grayson County, an area that he first described in coming to Texas in 1876 by stating, "I have found my grape paradise!" It must surely have been true, for he spend the remaining years of his life in the area developing superior grape varieties from the wild native grapes along the bluffs of the Red River and its tributaries.

As a result of dedicated research of Mr. Wallace E. Dancy, a retired oil company controller, during the early 1970s, Thomas Volney Munson's magnificent achievements were rediscovered. Mr. Dancy's research led him to Mr. John Clift, (the late) State Editor of the Denison Herald and author of the weekly newspaper column, "Wine Rack." These two energetic investigators collaborated on their viticultural "hero" and discovered that many of the Munson grape varieties still existed, mostly in private collections. Voluminous amounts of information were collected from many sources and, as a result of the contacts made throughout the nation, an admiration society for T.V. Munson was launched. The W.B. Munson Foundation at Denison, Texas, was then contacted and a project to honor T.V. Munson, brother of W.B. Munson, was instigated.

In the spring of 1974, a meeting was held on the campus of Grayson County College attended by Mr. Ben Munson, III, Foundation president; Dr. Truman Wester, president, Grayson County College; Mr. Ben McKinney, Foundation director; and Mr. John Clift, seeking the expertise of the college's Horticulture Department in developing the memorial.

"I've asked the college to assist in this project," Munson said, "because I feel that this area has great potential for the grape industry. Grayson County College has the potential management skill moreso than any other institution in the area. I feel that we need this kind of expertise to make the project work."

An advisory committee was appointed, consisting of Mr. Clift, Mr. W.E. Dancy, Mr. Ben McKinney, Mr. Ben Munson, III, Mr. David Munson, Dr. Truman Wester, and Mr. W.E. Wilcox. Mr. Horace Foster, who had worked for T.V. Munson as a child, was appointed special advisor to the project. And so it was, the T.V. Munson Memorial Vineyard was created! The agriculture instructor for the college, Roy E. Renfro, Jr., was appointed administrator of the vineyard project and given the authority to proceed with the development of the memorial. Land preparation, vineyard layout, securing variety donors, soil tests, etc., kept the advisory committee and the administrator busy during the summer and fall of 1974. When spring of 1975 arrived, the vineyard plot was ready to accept the first few grape varieties that had been located. From this meager beginning of five varieties, the memorial vineyard now has 60 of the Munson Cultivars in production.

The T.V. Munson Memorial Vineyard is located on the West Campus of Grayson County College, one-half mile west of the intersection of State Highways 1417 and 691 between Sherman and Denison, Texas. The plan is to have as many as possible of the 300 Munson varieties in residence when the memorial is completed.

The Munson three-wire "T" trellis system has been used with native cedar posts having been cut from timber along the banks of the Red River where many of the native grapes Munson used are still thriving.

A greenhouse has been constructed to aid in the success rate of rooting cuttings of the rare Munson varieties. A turn-of-the-century style brick maintenance building has been constructed adjacent to the greenhouse and serves as an area for propagation work and storage of the Munson grape cultivars. Permanent concrete walkways have been installed throughout the display vineyard to make the tour more enjoyable. A museum and library have been constructed in an area adjacent to the memorial vineyard to house the memorabilia of T.V. Munson and to serve as a regional viticulture center. The T.V. Munson Memorial Vineyard opened for public tours in the summer of 1979.

The T.V. Munson Viticulture and Enology Center, which officially opened on September 10, 1988, serves as a state and regional center for the delivery of educational programs in viticulture and enology and a repository for historical documents of international significance to the wine industry. The building houses a library for research documents and historic memorabilia; classroom and office space; and workroom facilities for processing grape plants, juice, and wine. Academic credit and credit-free courses, as well as meetings, are conducted in the facility.