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ROCKWALL,
TEXAS
Rockwall County
Seat, North
Central Texas
Intersection of State Hwys 66 and 205 (Just N of I-30 / US 67)
Overlooking Lake Ray Hubbard
23 miles E of Dallas
Population:
10,500
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Looking
west at Lake Ray Hubbard from a hill in Rockwall
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, June 2007 |
Situated
on a hill with a commanding view of the lake and distant Dallas
(actually Rowlett and Mesquite) it's
a shame that there's not more of Rockwall.
History in a Pecan Shell
Once a part of Kaufman County, the land was originally settled by
the Boydstun family of Illinois in the 1840s. In 1852 Elijah Elgin
donated forty acres to establish a town.
The name comes from the 1851 discovery of a rock outcropping that
appears (to some) to have been constructed by man.
The town formally came into being on April 17, 1854, the same year
a post office opened.
The split with Kaufman county came in 1873 when the state legislature
declared it separate and naturally Rockwall became the county seat.
In 1886 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad arrived and the economy
responded accordingly. Farmers and merchants from Blackland and Heath,
Texas moved into Rockwall raising the population to nearly 1,000 in
1890.
In 1893 Wells College opened and the population continued to grow.
The Great Depression saw a slight decline, but after WWII it again
increased.
In 1970 it was more than 3,000, but compared to neighboring Dallas
it was still a small town. That changed with the construction of Lake
Ray Hubbard. By the 1990s it reported a count of 10,486 to census
enumerators - a figure that appears on the 2000 map.
Rockwall
County Courthouse |
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| A portion
of the subterranean rock wall, for which the county is named, sits
in front of the courthouse.
Photo courtesy Terry
Jeanson, June 2007 |
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