Grand Prairie

Grand Prairie, Texas
Main Street in Grand Prairie.
Nickname(s): GP
Location of Grand Prairie in Dallas County, Texas
Coordinates: 32°42′55″N 97°1′1″W / 32.71528°N 97.01694°W / 32.71528; -97.01694
Country	United States
State	Texas
Counties	Dallas, Tarrant, Ellis
Government
- City Council	Mayor Charles England Richard Fregoe Mark Hepworth Ruthe Jackson Ron Jensen Rick Sala Tony Shotwell Jim Swafford Bill Thorn
- City Manager	Tom Hart
Area
- Total	211.2 km2 (81.5 sq mi)
- Land	184.9 km2 (71.4 sq mi)
- Water	26.3 km2 (10.1 sq mi)
Elevation	157 m (515 ft)
Population (2006)
- Total	153,812
- Density	831.9/km2 (2,154.2/sq mi)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	75050-75054
Area code(s)	972
FIPS code	48-30464[1]
GNIS feature ID	1336802[2]
Website	www.gptx.org

Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant Counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The population was 153,812 in 2006.

History

The city of Grand Prairie was first established as “Dechman” by Alexander McRae Dechman in 1863. Dechman, who was from Birdville learned that he could trade his oxen and wagons for land in Dallas County. In 1863, Dechman bought 239 ½ acres of land on the east side of the Trinity River and 100 acres (.40 km2) of timber land on the west side of the river for a broken down wagon, oxen team and US$200 in Confederate money. He tried to establish a home on the property, but ran into difficulties, so he returned to his family in Birdville before joining in the Civil War. Then in 1867, he filed a town plat consisting of 50 acres (200,000 m2) with Dallas County.

After the war, he returned to Birdville for two years before selling that farm in 1867 and moving to Houston, where Yellow Fever broke out causing the family to settle in Bryan. In 1876, Dechman traded half his "prairie" property to T&P Railroad to ensure the railroad came through the town. The railroad named the depot "Dechman" prompting its namesake to relocate his home from Bryan to Dechman. His son Alexander had been living in Dechman and operating a trading post and farm. The first church in the area was the Good Hope Cumberland Sabbath School established in 1870 by Rev. Andrew Hayter. The church was later renamed West Fork United Presbyterian Church and remains an active church. ^[3]

The first U.S. Post Office opened in 1877 under the name “Deckman” rather than "Dechman" because the United States Postal Service couldn't read the writing on the form completed to open the post office; later that same year, the name of the town was later changed to Grand Prairie. Legend has it that a famous actress stepped off a train and exclaimed “My, what a grand prairie!” Dechman sold the remainder of his Grand Prairie land in 1890 and apparently moved to Waxahachie. He is buried in historic Greenwood Cemetery in Dallas.

The town of Grand Prairie was eventually was incorporated as a city in 1909. During World War II and since, Grand Prairie has had a long history with the defense and aviation industry. While the present day Vought plant on Jefferson Ave. is part of a small strip of the Dallas city line; it was originally in Grand Prairie. During WWII it was a North American Aviation plant that produced the P-51C and K Mustang variants. After the war, Vought Aircraft took over the plant. This later became Ling Temco Vought and then eventually returned to the Vought moniker. The plant was the production site for the F-8 Crusader and the A-7 Corsair II aircraft of the 1950-1989 time period. The Missile and Space division of LTV produced missiles such as the Scout and MLRS. This division was eventually sold to Lockheed Martin which continues to operate in Grand Prairie. Grand Prairie was also the North American headquarters for Aérospatiale Helicopter. This company eventually became American Eurocopter a division of EADS North America.

Geography

Grand Prairie is located at 32°42′55″N 97°1′1″W / 32.71528°N 97.01694°W / 32.71528; -97.01694 (32.715266, -97.016864).^[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 81.5 square miles (211.2 km²), of which, 71.4 square miles (184.9 km²) of it is land and 10.1 square miles (26.3 km²) of it (12.44%) is water.

The West Fork of the Trinity River and a major tributary, Johnson Creek, flow through Grand Prairie.

Grand Prairie has a long history of flooding from Johnson Creek. In the 1990s a major Army Corps of Engineer project was started to straighten the channel which has reduced the damage of flooding.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 127,427 people, 43,791 households, and 32,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,784.6 people per square mile (689.1/km²). There were 46,425 housing units at an average density of 650.2/sq mi (251.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 62% White, 13.5% African American, 0.8% Native American, 4.42% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 15.90% from other races, and 3.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33% of the population.

There were 43,791 households out of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.5% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 34.1% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $46,816, and the median income for a family was $51,449. Males had a median income of $35,300 versus $28,184 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,978. About 8.7% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.2% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Six Flags maintains a corporate office in Grand Prairie.^[5]

Education

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Most of Grand Prairie's K-12 student population attends schools in the Grand Prairie Independent School District, which serves areas of Grand Prairie in the Dallas County. The Mansfield Independent School District serves areas of Grand Prairie in Tarrant County and operates six elementary schools within the Grand Prairie city limits. Other portions of Grand Prairie reside within the Arlington,Cedar Hill, Irving, Mansfield, and Midlothian school districts.^[6]

In Texas, school district boundaries do not always follow city and county boundaries because all aspects of the school district government apparatus, including school district boundaries, are separated from the city and county government.

Grand Prairie Independent School District

The high schools in the district are Grand Prairie High School and South Grand Prairie High School.

Arlington Independent School District

The Arlington ISD has the second highest portion of Grand Prairie's K-12 student population. 6 Arlington ISD Elementary schools are within the city limits of Grand Prairie. Grand Prairie residents in the Arlington ISD are located generally west of the Dallas-Tarrant County boundary and north of the intersection of Camp Wisdom and Lake Ridge in Southwest Grand Prairie. One of the Arlington High Schools, James Bowie High, has more Grand Prairie residents than Arlington residents that are students at the school.

Grand Prairie student/residents in the Arlington ISD will attend Bowie, Sam Houston, or Lamar High School in the Arlington ISD and their feeder elementary schools and junior high schools.

Mansfield Independent School District

The Mansfield ISD contains the third highest portion of the Grand Prairie's K-12 student population. Grand Prairie residents in the Mansfield ISD are located generally south of the intersection of Camp Wisdom and Lake Ridge and west of Joe Pool Lake to the Tarrant and Ellis County line in Southwest Grand Prairie. No Mansfield ISD schools are currently open within the city limits of Grand Prairie, but 2 elementary schools and 1 junior high school are planned to be built in these areas. The Mansfield ISD is the fastest growing ISD in Tarrant county and the growth in far southwest Grand Prairie is a major factor in the Mansfield ISD's subsequent growth.

Grand Prairie student/residents in the Mansfield ISD will attend Mansfield Timberview High School or Mansfield High School in the Mansfield ISD or their feeder elemetaries and junior highs. Timberview High School is located on State Highway 360 less than 100 yards (91 m) from the Grand Prairie city line.

Infrastructure

Transportation

A water tower near the future SH 161.

Interstate highways 20 and 30 run east-west through the city, along with SH 303, SH 180, and SH 161, a future extension of the Dallas outerloop (President George Bush Turnpike). FM 1382 (Belt Line Road) begins from SH 180, crossing I-20 and eventually heading to Cedar Hill.

Attractions

• In 1997 Lone Star Park was opened, where each Memorial Day they hold the Thoroughbred meeting with seven stakes races worth just over $1 million.

• In 2000 GPX Skate Park, was opened up next to Lone Star Park, which hosted the 2001 and 2002 X-Games trials. They closed in 2005 and were later re-opened in June 2006 by the Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation committee.

Uptown Theatre sign illuminated at night.

• The state of the art Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie, previously NextStage, is in Grand Prairie. Numerous concerts and other events are held here throughout the year.

• Prairie Lights, a two-mile (3 km) long seasonal display, featuring more than three million lights on more than 500 lighted displays. Santa’s elves, snowmen, reindeer, angels, penguins, stars, lollipops and the world’s longest tunnel of lights are just a few of the displays showcased during the 40-day event. The theme park also offers a unique out-of-car experience in Holiday Village mid-way through the drive with concessions, carousel rides, Santa’s Store for shopping and photos with Santa on Fri., Sat. and Sun. New in 2007, Holiday Magic by John Barrett’s Lightasmic and sponsored by Chesapeake Energy offers a unique “out of car” experience for those who want to walk through the 10-minute choreographed light show. Dates for 2007 are November 22 through December 31.

• In 1973 Traders Village was opened off of State Highway 360 and it boasts as the largest Flea Market in Texas where it opens on weekends from 8 A.M. until Dusk. There is also special events held at Traders Village on certain weekends. Those events include Chili Cookoff, auto swap-meet, etc.

• The AirHogs minor league baseball team and their stadium, Quiktrip Park were established in Grand Prairie in May 2007 and started play in May 2008.

• The historic Uptown Theatre in Downtown Grand Prairie is opened after a year of renovations.

Notable natives

• Selena Gomez - actress, singer
• Demi Lovato - actress, singer

References

External links

Texas portal

• City of Grand Prairie (official website)

• Grand Prairie, Texas is at coordinates 32°42′55″N 97°01′01″W / 32.715266°N 97.016864°W / 32.715266; -97.016864 (Grand Prairie, Texas)Coordinates: 32°42′55″N 97°01′01″W / 32.715266°N 97.016864°W / 32.715266; -97.016864 (Grand Prairie, Texas)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Dallas County, Texas County seat: Dallas Cities Balch Springs | Carrollton‡ | Cedar Hill‡ | Cockrell Hill | Combine‡ | Coppell‡ | Dallas‡ | DeSoto | Duncanville | Farmers Branch | Ferris‡ | Garland‡ | Glenn Heights‡ | Grand Prairie‡ | Grapevine‡ | Hutchins | Irving | Lancaster | Lewisville‡ | Mesquite‡ | Ovilla‡ | Richardson‡ | Rowlett‡ | Sachse‡ | Seagoville‡ | University Park | Wilmer | Wylie‡ Towns Addison | Flower Mound‡ | Highland Park | Sunnyvale Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Ellis County, Texas County seat: Waxahachie Cities Bardwell | Cedar Hill‡ | Ennis | Ferris‡ | Grand Prairie‡ | Glenn Heights‡ | Mansfield‡ | Maypearl | Midlothian | Ovilla‡ | Pecan Hill | Red Oak | Waxahachie Towns Alma | Garrett | Italy | Milford | Oak Leaf | Palmer | Venus‡ Unincorporated communities Avalon | Forreston | Ike | Rockett | Telico Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

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v • d • e Mayors of cities with populations of 100,000 in Texas     Bill White (Houston) Julian Castro (San Antonio) Tom Leppert (Dallas) Lee Leffingwell (Austin) Mike Moncrief (Fort Worth) John Cook (El Paso) Robert Cluck (Arlington) Joe Adame (Corpus Christi) Pat Evans (Plano) Ronald E. Jones (Garland) Raul Gonzalez Salinas (Laredo) Tom Martin (Lubbock) Herbert A. Gears (Irving) Debra McCartt (Amarillo) Pat Ahumada (Brownsville) Charles England (Grand Prairie) Johnny Isbell (Pasadena) John Monaco (Mesquite) Richard F. Cortez (McAllen) Ron Branson (Carrollton) Virginia DuPuy (Waco) Norm Archibald (Abilene) Bill Whitfield (McKinney) Mark Burroughs (Denton) Timothy L. Hancock (Killeen) Becky Ames (Beaumont) Wes Perry (Midland) Lanham Lyne (Wichita Falls)