City of Grand Prairie
—  City  —
Watertower at Market Square
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; -97.01694Coordinates: 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
• Type	Council-Manager
• City Council	Mayor Charles England Richard Fregoe Mark Hepworth Ruthe Jackson Ron Jensen Greg Giessner Tony Shotwell Jim Swafford Bill Thorn
• City Manager	Tom Hart
Area
• Total	81.1 sq mi (210.0 km2)
• Land	72.1 sq mi (186.8 km2)
• Water	9.0 sq mi (23.3 km2)
Elevation	515 ft (157 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	175,396
• Density	2,200/sq mi (840/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	75050-75054
Area code(s)	972, 214, 469, 817, 682
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. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.^[3]

History[link]

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. Grand Prairie is also home to a phrase that no one ever seems to use. "got em' coach" was started as a joke by a pig farmer but due to the lack of big words in the town it soon caught on among the town people. Today you can hear the phrase in other parts of the U.S. but no one really knows what it means.

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.^[4]

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, 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 II 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 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.

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[link]

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).^[5]

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.^[6]

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

Dylan Daniel has a large 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.

Demographics[link]

As of 2010 Grand Prairie had a population of 175,396. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 29.1% non-Hispanic white, 19.6% non-Hispanic black, 0.8% Native American, 3.3% Vietnamese, 3.2% other Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% non-Hispanic of some other race, 3.2% of two or more races and 42.7% Hispanic or Latino.^[3]

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 per square mile (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.

Climate[link]

Grand Prairie is considered to be part of the humid subtropical region.

Government[link]

Local government[link]

According to the city’s 2007-2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city’s various funds had $275.5 million in revenues, $236.4 million in expenditures, $1,003.2 million in total assets, $424.9 million in total liabilities, and $305.9 million in cash and investments.^[8]

The structure of the management and coordination of city services is:^[8]

Federal representation[link]

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) runs the Grand Prairie Office Complex on the grounds of the U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Complex.^[9] Within the complex the BOP operates the Designation and Sentence Computation Center (DSCC), which calculates federal sentences, keeps track of the statutory "good time" accumulated by inmates and lump sum extra "good time" awards, and detainers.^[10]. Grand prairie as of 2012 has 320 police officers and is gp is known for mexican gangs and more

Economy[link]

According to the city's 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[8] the top employers in the city are:

Six Flags maintains a corporate office in Grand Prairie.^[11] American Eurocopter, the U.S. subsidiary of Eurocopter, has its headquarters in Grand Prairie.^[12]

In 1978 American Airlines announced that it would move its headquarters from New York City to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.^[13] The airline moved its headquarters into two leased office buildings in Grand Prairie. The airline finished moving into its Fort Worth headquarters facility on January 17, 1983, when the airline left its Grand Prairie facility.^[13]

Education[link]

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

Primary and secondary schools[link]

Public schools[link]

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 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.^[14]

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.

[edit] Grand Prairie Independent School District

The high schools in the district are Grand Prairie High School, South Grand Prairie High School, Crosswinds High School and Dubiski Career High School. Middle schools include Kennedy, Jackson, Reagan, Truman, Fannin, Arnold, and Adams.

[edit] Arlington Independent School District

The Arlington ISD has the second highest portion of Grand Prairie's K-12 student population. Six 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 attend Bowie, Sam Houston, or Lamar High School in the Arlington ISD and their feeder elementary schools and junior high schools.

[edit] 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. Three Mansfield ISD schools, Anna May Daulton Elementary; Louise Cabaniss Elementary; and Cora Spencer Elementary, are currently open within the city limits of Grand Prairie. The Mansfield ISD is the fastest growing ISD in Tarrant County, and the population growth in far southwest Grand Prairie is a major factor in the Mansfield ISD's subsequent growth.

Grand Prairie students/residents in the Mansfield ISD 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[link]

Transportation[link]

Main Street (looking west)

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 outer loop (President George Bush Turnpike). FM 1382 (Belt Line Road) begins from SH 180, crossing I-20 and eventually heading to Cedar Hill.

There is presently no public transportation in Grand Prairie, as the city is not a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

Attractions[link]

• In 1997 Lone Star Park was opened, where each Memorial Day the Thoroughbred Meeting is held, with seven stakes races worth just over $1 million.
• In 2000 GPX Skate Park was opened 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 Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, previously NextStage and Nokia Theater, is in Grand Prairie. Numerous concerts and other events are held here throughout the year.
• Prairie Lights is a 2-mile-long (3.2 km) 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 Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• In 1973, Traders Village was opened off of State Highway 360. It describes itself as the largest flea market in Texas, open on weekends from 8 A.M. until dusk. Special events are held at Traders Village on certain weekends, including a chili cookoff, auto swap-meet, etc.
• The Grand Prairie 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 has reopened after a year of renovation

Notable natives[link]

• Selena Gomez, actress and singer
• Charley Taylor, professional football player
• Kerry Wood, Major League Baseball pitcher
• Billy Miller, actor, Daytime Emmy winner (The Young and the Restless)

Notable residents[link]

• Larry D. Alexander, artist and writer
• Selena Gomez, actress and singer

References[link]

External links[link]

Dallas portal

• City of Grand Prairie official website
• Census Map - Grand Prairie, Texas

v t e Municipalities and communities of Dallas County, Texas, United States 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 Highland Park Sunnyvale Unincorporated communities Alpha Sand Branch Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e Municipalities and communities of Ellis County, Texas, United States 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 Rankin Rockett Telico Ghost town Crisp Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e Municipalities and communities of Tarrant County, Texas, United States County seat: Fort Worth Cities Arlington Azle‡ Bedford Benbrook Blue Mound Burleson‡ Colleyville Crowley‡ Dalworthington Gardens Euless Everman Forest Hill Fort Worth‡ Grand Prairie‡ Grapevine‡ Haltom City Haslet‡ Hurst Keller Kennedale Lake Worth Mansfield‡ Newark‡ North Richland Hills Pelican Bay Reno‡ Richland Hills River Oaks Saginaw Sansom Park Southlake‡ Watauga Westworth Village White Settlement Towns Edgecliff Village Flower Mound‡ Lakeside Pantego Trophy Club‡ Westlake‡ Westover Hills CDPs Briar‡ Pecan Acres‡ Rendon Unincorporated community Alliance‡ Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e  State of Texas Austin (capital) Topics Architecture Climate Cuisine Geography Government History Languages Literature Sports Texans Transportation Symbols Visitor attractions Society Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Ark‑La‑Tex Big Bend Blackland Prairies Brazos Valley Central Texas Coastal Bend Cross Timbers Deep East Texas East Texas Edwards Plateau Golden Triangle Hill Country Llano Estacado Northeast Texas North Texas Osage Plains Panhandle Permian Basin Piney Woods Rio Grande Valley Southeast Texas South Plains South Texas Trans-Pecos West Texas Metropolitan areas Abilene Amarillo Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos Beaumont–Port Arthur Brownsville–Harlingen College Station–Bryan Corpus Christi Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington El Paso Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood Laredo Longview Lubbock McAllen–Edinburg–Mission Midland Odessa San Angelo San Antonio–New Braunfels Sherman–Denison Texarkana Tyler Victoria Waco Wichita Falls Counties There are 254 counties in Texas. (See Table of Texas counties or List.)

v t e Mayors of cities with populations exceeding 100,000 in Texas     Annise Parker (Houston) Julian Castro (San Antonio) Mike Rawlings (Dallas) Lee Leffingwell (Austin) Betsy Price (Fort Worth) John Cook (El Paso) Robert Cluck (Arlington) Joe Adame (Corpus Christi) Phil Dyer (Plano) Raul G. Salinas (Laredo) Tom Martin (Lubbock) Ronald E. Jones (Garland) Beth Van Duyne (Irving) Debra McCartt (Amarillo) Tony Martinez (Brownsville) Charles England (Grand Prairie) Johnny Isbell (Pasadena) John Monaco (Mesquite) Richard F. Cortez (McAllen) Ron Branson (Carrollton) Virginia DuPuy (Waco) Bill Whitfield (McKinney) Mark Burroughs (Denton) Timothy L. Hancock (Killeen) Norm Archibald (Abilene) Becky Ames (Beaumont) Wes Perry (Midland) Alan McGraw (Round Rock) Dean Ueckert (Lewisville) Bill Keffler (Richardson) Lanham Lyne (Wichita Falls) Larry Melton (Odessa) Other states AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

State of Texas
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Lone Star State
Motto(s): Friendship
Official language(s)	No official language (see Languages spoken in Texas)
Spoken language(s)	English 68.7% Spanish 27.0%[1]
Demonym	Texan Texian (archaic) Tejano
Capital	Austin
Largest city	Houston
Largest metro area	Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex[2]
Area	Ranked 2nd in the U.S.
- Total	268,581[3] sq mi (696,241 km2)
- Width	773[4] miles (1,244 km)
- Length	790 miles (1,270 km)
- % water	2.5
- Latitude	25° 50′ N to 36° 30′ N
- Longitude	93° 31′ W to 106° 39′ W
Population	Ranked 2nd in the U.S.
- Total	25,674,681 (2011 est)[5]
- Density	98.1/sq mi  (37.9/km2) Ranked 26th in the U.S.
Elevation
- Highest point	Guadalupe Peak[6][7][8] 8,751 ft (2667.4 m)
- Mean	1,700 ft  (520 m)
- Lowest point	Gulf of Mexico[7] sea level
Before statehood	Republic of Texas
Admission to Union	December 29, 1845 (28th)
Governor	Rick Perry (R)
Lieutenant Governor	David Dewhurst (R)
Legislature	Texas Legislature
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) John Cornyn (R)
U.S. House delegation	23 Republicans, 9 Democrats (list)
Time zones
- most of state	Central: UTC −6/−5
- tip of West Texas	Mountain: UTC −7/−6
Abbreviations	TX Tex. US-TX
Website	www.texas.gov

Texas (ⁱ/ˈtɛksəs/) (Alibamu: Teksi ^[9]) is the second most populous and the second most extensive of the 50 United States, and the most extensive state of the 48 contiguous United States. The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas.^[10] Located in the South Central United States, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south, and borders the US states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²), and a growing population of 25.7 million residents.^[11]

During the Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas: La Provincia de Texas.^[12] Antonio Margil de Jesús was known to be the first person to use the name in a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico in July 20, 1716. The name was not popularly used in daily speech but often appeared in legal documents until the end of the 1800s.