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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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Lake Ray Hubbard view from  Rockwall Texas
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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Rock wall in Rockwall Texas
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
Rockwall Texas water tower
Rockwall water tower.

Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, June 2007
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