The city of Grand Prairie was first established asDechman by Alexander McRae Dechman in 1863. He based the name of the town onBig Prairie, Ohio. Prior to then, he resided inYoung County nearFort Belknap. The 1860 U.S. Federal Census—Slave Schedules shows an A McR Dechman as having four slaves, ages 50, 25, 37 and 10. Dechman 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 theTrinity River and 100 acres (40 ha) of timber land on the west side of the river for a broken-down wagon, oxen team andUS$200 inConfederate 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 theCivil War. In 1867, Dechman filed a town plat with Dallas County, consisting of 50 acres (20 ha).[citation needed]
After the war, Dechman returned to Birdville for two years before selling that farm in 1867 and moving toHouston, whereyellow fever broke out, causing the family to settle inBryan. 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 ForkUnited Presbyterian Church and remains an active church.[9]
The first U.S.post office opened in 1877 under the name "Deckman" rather than "Dechman", because theU.S. Postal Service could not 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 eventuallyincorporated as a city in 1909. DuringWorld War I and since, Grand Prairie has had a long history with the defense and aviation industry. While the present-dayVought plant on Jefferson Avenue is part of a small strip within the Dallas city limits, it was originally in Grand Prairie. DuringWorld War II, theNorth American Aviation Plant B produced theConsolidated B-24 Liberator and theP-51C and K Mustang variants. After the war, Vought Aircraft took over the plant. This later becameLing-Temco-Vought (LTV), then eventually returned to the Vought moniker. The plant was the production site for theF-8 Crusader and theA-7 Corsair II aircraft of the 1950–1989 time period. The LTV Missile and Space division produced missiles such as theScout andMLRS. This division was eventually sold toLockheed Martin, which continues to operate in Grand Prairie. Grand Prairie was also the North American headquarters forAérospatiale Helicopter. This company eventually becameAirbus Helicopters, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary ofAirbus Helicopters.
In 1953, the mayor and city council of Grand Prairie 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 such asArlington,Duncanville andIrving wound up overturning part of the annexation attempt. In 2025, the city annexed nearly 900 acres along its southern boundary to facilitate the Goodland master-planned community, which is planned to include housing, schools, parks and commercial areas.[10]
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 byDallas to the east,Cedar Hill andMidlothian to the southeast,Mansfield to the southwest,Arlington to the west,Fort Worth to the northwest, andIrving to the north.
According to theUnited 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.[11]
Grand Prairie has a long history of flooding from Johnson Creek. In the 1980s, a majorArmy Corps of Engineers project was begun to straighten the channel, which has reduced the damage of flooding.
Grand Prairie city, Texas – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the2020 census, Grand Prairie had a population of 196,100 and a median age of 33.7 years. 27.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 9.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.5 males age 18 and over.[19][20]
As of the2020 census, 99.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.2% lived in rural areas.[21]
As of the2020 census, there were 65,008 households in Grand Prairie, of which 41.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.4% were married-couple households, 17.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, and the census also counted 46,391 families residing in the city. There were 68,284 housing units, of which 4.8% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.3%.[19]
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.[22]
Grand Prairie as of 2012 has 320 municipal police officers.
The city of Grand Prairie is a voluntary member of theNorth Central Texas Council of Governments association, the purpose of which is to coordinate individual and collective local governments and facilitate regional solutions, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and enable joint decisions.
TheBureau of Prisons (BOP), of theU.S. Department of Justice runs the Grand Prairie Office Complex on the grounds of theGrand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex.[24] 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.[25] The BOP South Central Office is also on the armed forces complex grounds.[26]
In 1978American Airlines announced that it would move its headquarters fromNew York City to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.[29] The airline moved its headquarters into two leased office buildings in Grand Prairie. The airline finished moving into itsFort Worth headquarters facility on January 17, 1983, when the airline left its Grand Prairie facility.[29]
In 1997Lone Star Park 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. It hosted the 2001 and 2002X Games trials. The park closed in 2005 and was reopened in June 2006 by the Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation committee.
The Theatre at Grand Prairie, previously The Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie, NextStage and Nokia Live, is in Grand Prairie, and it hosts concerts and other events.
Prairie Lights[30] is a 2-mile-long (3.2 km) seasonal display, featuring more than three million lights on more than 500 lighted displays.
In 1973, Traders Village[31] was opened off of Mayfield Road, andState Highway 360. It describes itself as the largestflea market in Texas, open on weekends from 7 A.M. until dusk.
TheGrand Prairie AirHogs minor league baseball team and their stadium,The Ballpark in Grand Prairie, were established in Grand Prairie in May 2007 and started play in May 2008. The team ceased operations after the 2020 season.[32]
The Uptown Theatre[33] in downtown Grand Prairie is a playhouse and venue for concerts.
The National Recreation and Parks Association (NRPA) bestowed its highest national award, the Gold Medal Award, to the Grand Prairie, Texas Parks and Recreation Department at the 2008 NRPA's Congress and Exposition in Baltimore. Grand Prairie, Texas won the award in the population group of 100,000-250,000, once again being a finalist for the award in 2016.
Located near I-30 and Beltline Rd, Turner Park became Grand Prairie's Heritage (first ever) Park back in the 1940s and features one of the top disc golf courses in North Texas.
Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark is one of the largest indoor waterparks in Texas. It opened January 2018 along with a recreation center nearby that opened later that year. The indoor waterpark is the third best in the nation according toUSA Today.[34]
TheTexas Super Kings major league cricket team and their stadium,Grand Prairie Stadium, were established in Grand Prairie in May 2022. The team started play in July 2023.
Most of Grand Prairie's K–12 student population attends schools in theGrand Prairie Independent School District, which serves most areas of Grand Prairie in Dallas County.[36] TheMansfield 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 theArlington,Cedar Hill,Irving,Mansfield, andMidlothian school districts.[37] Portions in Dallas County are in the Grand Prairie, Cedar Hill, and Irving school districts.[36] Portions in Tarrant County extend into the Arlington and Mansfield school districts.[38] Portions in Ellis County are in the Midlothian school district.[39]
In Texas, school district boundaries do not 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 entirely, with the exception of theStafford Municipal School District in theHouston area.
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, orLamar High School in the Arlington ISD and their feeder elementary schools and junior high schools.
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.
Interstate highways20 and30 run east–west through the northern and southern parts of the city.Texas State HighwaysSpur 303 (namedPioneer Parkway) and180 (Main Street) also run east–west in the northern and central portions of the city.
SH 360 runs for almost three miles in the northwestern portion of city; most of the highway runs just west of the city limits inArlington.
SH 161, named thePresident George Bush Turnpike, runs north–south through western Grand Prairie. The main lanes were opened in late 2012 with frontage roads open since 2010. Portions of the highway located north ofSH 180 are depressed while the portion south of SH 180 runs at-grade then becomes elevated. Frontage roads remain at-grade throughout. The frontage road intersection at Main Street will open sometime in 2013.[41]
Belt Line Road is a major north–south thoroughfare in the city. The section of the road south of Main Street is dual-labelled asFM 1382, which travels south, pastI-20 and continues south toCedar Hill. The section of the road north of Main Street keeps its name, continuing north intoIrving.
The city declined membership in 1984. In April 2022, Grand Prairie launched "Via Grand Prairie", an "on-demand, shared public transportation" which connects toDART'sWest Irving station.[42]
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
