Grand Prairie, Texas

Grand Prairie, Texas
City
City of Grand Prairie
Watertower at Market Square
Nickname(s): GP
Location of Grand Prairie in Dallas and Tarrant County, Texas
Grand Prairie, Texas Location in the contiguous United States
Coordinates: 32°42′55″N 97°1′1″W / 32.71528°N 97.01694°WCoordinates: 32°42′55″N 97°1′1″W / 32.71528°N 97.01694°W
Country	United States
State	Texas
Counties	Dallas, Tarrant, Ellis
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• City Council	Mayor Ron Jensen Richard Fregoe Jeff Wooldridge Greg Giessner Tony Shotwell Jim Swafford Jorja Clemson Lila Thorn
• City Manager	Tom Hart
Area
• City	81.091 sq mi (210.02 km^2)
• Land	72.105 sq mi (186.75 km^2)
• Water	8.986 sq mi (23.27 km^2)
Elevation	515 ft (157 m)
Population (2010)[1]
• City	175,396
• Estimate (2013)[2]	183,372
• Rank	(US: 127th)
• Density	2,433/sq mi (939/km^2)
• Urban	5,121,892 (6th)
• Metro	6,810,913 (4th)
• Demonym	Grand Prairian
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	75050-75054
Area code(s)	972, 214, 469, 817
FIPS code	48-30464[3]
GNIS feature ID	1336802[4]
Website	www.gptx.org

Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas County, Tarrant County, and Ellis County, Texas, in the United States.^[5] It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie has a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it the fifteenth most populous city in the state.^[6]

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 239.5 acres (96.9 ha) of land on the eastern side of the Trinity River and 100 acres (40 ha) 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. In 1867 he filed a town plat consisting of 50 acres (20 ha) 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 the 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.^[7]

The first U.S. post office opened in 1877 under the name "Deckman" rather than "Dechman", because the U.S. Postal Service couldn't read the writing on the form completed to open the post office. Later that same year, after the Postal Service had adopted the "Deckman" name, confusion resulted from the T&P Railroad designation "Grand Prairie". This name was based on maps drawn from around 1850 through 1858 that labeled the area between Dallas and Fort Worth "the grand prairie of Texas". In order to alleviate the confusion, the Postal Service named the post office "Grand Prairie".

The town of Grand Prairie was eventually incorporated as a city in 1909. During World War I and since, Grand Prairie has had a long history with the defense and aviation industry. While the present-day Vought plant on Jefferson Avenue is part of a small strip within the Dallas city limits, it was originally in Grand Prairie. During World War II the North American Aviation Plant B produced the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the P-51C and K Mustang variants. After the war, Vought Aircraft took over the plant. This later became Ling Temco Vought (LTV) 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 LTV Missile and Space division 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 Airbus Helicopters, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Airbus Helicopters.

In 1953, the mayor and city council of Grand Prairie went on a "land grab", and attempted to annex nearly 70 square miles (180 km²) of then-unincorporated and largely undeveloped land in southern Dallas and Tarrant counties. Vehement debate ensued, and the legal pressure from cities like Arlington, Duncanville and Irving wound up overturning the unprecedented annexation attempt.

Geography

Grand Prairie is located along the border between Tarrant and Dallas counties, with a small portion extending south into Ellis County. The city is bordered by Dallas to the east, Cedar Hill and Midlothian to the southeast, Mansfield to the southwest, Arlington to the west, Fort Worth to the northwest, and Irving to the north.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 81.1 square miles (210.0 km²), of which 72.1 square miles (186.8 km²) is land and 9.0 square miles (23.3 km²), or 11.08%, is water.^[8]

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 1980s, a major Army Corps of Engineers project was begun to straighten the channel, which has reduced the damage of flooding.

Surrounding municipalities

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1910	994		—
1920	1,263		27.1%
1930	1,529		21.1%
1940	1,595		4.3%
1950	14,594		815.0%
1960	30,386		108.2%
1970	50,904		67.5%
1980