Grayson County and Gainesville mark 25 years since Sept. 11

Grayson County and Gainesville each scheduled observances Friday for the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and Gainesville added a blood drive to the day. The Grayson County ceremony was set for 8 a.m. at the Grayson County Courthouse, 100 W. Houston St. in Sherman.

Denison's official announcement asked residents to gather there with local first responders and city representatives to remember those killed in the attacks.

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum said in September 2026 that more than 100 million Americans are too young to remember the attacks. The museum announced an anniversary digital learning program built on firsthand accounts for students and teachers worldwide.

In Cooke County, Gainesville Fire-Rescue scheduled its own ceremony for 9 a.m. at Fire Station 3, 308 N. Culberson St., with a tribute at the department's memorial, which holds steel from the World Trade Center, according to the city's announcement.

Gainesville also tied the day to service. A Patriot Day blood drive with Carter BloodCare is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Valley Creek Church parking lot, and the city's announcement presents the drive as a way to join remembrance to community service.

The memorial itself is older than this anniversary. The fire department's history record dates the dedication to Sept. 11, 2011, ten years to the day after the attacks, and says the memorial includes a certified World Trade Center steel artifact and the department's original 1882 bell.

Mesquite announced a public 25th-anniversary remembrance for 8:30 a.m. Friday at Freedom Park, which the city says contains steel from an original World Trade Center tower. Police and fire honor guards are on the program, along with fire department musicians and high-school band members.

Two formal designations sit behind these local events. Congress named Sept. 11 as Patriot Day in Public Law 107-89, enacted Dec. 18, 2001, which requests an annual presidential proclamation encouraging commemorative activity. The law also asks for flags at half-staff and a moment of silence. Texas lawmakers added a Texas First Responders Day provision to House Bill 9 in 2003, setting the same date aside to honor Texans who help others in emergencies and calling for ceremonies in public schools and other places.

Texas classrooms carry a standing requirement of their own. Education Code Section 25.0821, in effect since 2013, directs public elementary and secondary schools to observe a minute of silence at the start of the first class period when Sept. 11 falls on a regular school day. A teacher's statement remembering those who died comes first.

The national ceremony in New York is growing to account for deaths that came later. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum announced a seventh moment of silence for its 2026 ceremony, honoring people who died afterward from illnesses or injuries related to the attacks, and said the observance will become a permanent annual feature.