Fruitcake gets teased plenty, but in Corsicana it’s serious business. Collin Street Bakery has been baking in this Navarro County town since 1896, and come October and November its DeLuxe fruitcakes head out by the truckload to doorsteps all over the world. If you’d rather pick one up in person, here’s what to know about the bakery and its busiest season.
A German baker, a circus and a mail-order idea
The bakery’s own history credits a young German baker, Augustus “Gus” Weidman, who arrived in Corsicana in 1896. Around 1900 he partnered with local businessman Tom McElwee, who handled the business side while Gus handled the ovens.
The fruitcake’s leap beyond Corsicana is the stuff of local legend. As the story goes, a traveling circus came through town in 1914 and ordered fruitcakes to mail as Christmas gifts, which nudged the bakery into the mail-order trade. In 1946 new owners took over, and the McNutt family has run things since, gradually steering the business from a regional bread bakery into a worldwide fruitcake shipper.
Why fall is fruitcake season
Fruitcake makes up the overwhelming share of Collin Street’s sales, and most of those orders come in during October and November ahead of the holidays. That means the bakery is at its busiest right now. Ordering early is the simplest way to make sure a cake lands before Christmas, especially if it’s going a long way.
The signature cake is the DeLuxe. The bakery describes it as heavy on pecans, about 27 percent by volume, with pineapple, cherries, papaya and golden raisins in a honey-sweetened batter, all topped with rings of pecan halves and candied fruit. It’s packed in the bakery’s Lone Star tin, which plenty of Texans hang onto for buttons and sewing notions long after the cake is gone.
Visiting the Corsicana bakery
Corsicana has two Collin Street locations. The original 7th Avenue home is downtown at 401 W. 7th Ave., and there’s a second café right off Interstate 45 at 2035 S. I-45, which is the easy stop if you’re driving between Dallas and Houston. Both stock fruitcakes along with other baked goods and café fare, and the I-45 store keeps later evening hours.
Can’t make it to Corsicana? The bakery also runs cafés on I-20 in Lindale, near Tyler, and on I-35 in Bellmead, just north of Waco. Hours for all four are on the café locations page.
Make a day of it in Corsicana
Corsicana sits about an hour south of Dallas and roughly three and a half hours north of Houston, right on I-45. The downtown bakery is near the historic Navarro County Courthouse and a walkable stretch of older storefronts, so it’s worth parking and strolling a bit instead of grabbing your tin and running.
If you’re heading east on I-20 toward the Piney Woods, the Lindale café makes a natural stop on the way to Tyler, where the Texas Rose Festival fills the city with roses each October.
Tips for fruitcake shoppers
- Order gifts early in the season to avoid holiday shipping crunches. The bakery ships worldwide.
- Prices change with size and season, so check current prices online or in store.
- Not a fruitcake fan? The cafés carry other baked goods and lunch items, so the whole car can find something.
- Hang on to the tin. It’s practically a Texas heirloom.
More than fruitcake on the shelves
Even though fruitcake carries the name, a stop at one of the cafés doesn’t have to be all about candied cherries. The cafés open early most days, at 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday, which makes them a handy breakfast or coffee break on a long I-45 drive. Sunday hours start later, at 11 a.m.
The downtown 7th Avenue location closes earlier in the evening than the highway stores, so if you’re passing through after supper, the I-45 café is your better bet.
Good to Know
- Where (downtown): 401 W. 7th Ave., Corsicana, TX 75110 (Navarro County). Phone (903) 874-7477.
- Hours (downtown): Mon–Thu 7 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Fri–Sat 7 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
- Where (I-45): 2035 S. I-45, Corsicana. Mon–Sat 7 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
- Other cafés: Lindale (I-20) and Bellmead near Waco (I-35).
- Since: 1896
- Drive time: About 1 hour from Dallas; roughly 3.5 hours from Houston.
Hours, dates and prices can change. Check the official website before you head out.
Love it or tease it, fruitcake is part of a Texas Christmas, and few places do it with as much history as this Corsicana bakery. Swing by this fall, pick up a tin for someone you love, and maybe one for yourself.
Featured photo: Billy Hathorn via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
