Rockwall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Rockwall County.[5] The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that as of the 2020 census, Rockwall's population is 47,251, up from 45,888 in 2019.[6] The name Rockwall is derived from a naturally jointed geological formation, which has the appearance of an artificial wall.
History
The association of Paleo-Indianartifacts with extinct Pleistocenemammal remains in various archeological sites within the Texas Prairie-Savannah Region of eastern North Central Texas, including a site in Collin County, and Clovis points recovered from the Brushy Creek Clovis Site in Hunt County demonstrates that the Rockwall region was occupied by prehistoric Native American cultures at least as far back as 13,500 to 13,000 years ago.[7][8][9] More recently, the Rockwall region was occupied by Caddo Indians. Creek Indians moved to the area in the early 19th century.
In 1851, the first Anglo-American settlers moved to the area, and wells were dug. During the digging, they found large underground rock walls that were initially believed to be man-made. Later study of the wall-like features by geologists and archaeologists found them to be jointed, natural sandstone dikes that had intruded Cretaceousmarl.[10][11] The wall, when viewed from above, runs in long straight lines with angles that form a near perfect rectangle. The eastern wall has several deviations that run in straight lines with sharp angles, which would be unusual for a natural formation in an already unusual closed loop wall formation.
The town was established April 17, 1854 and named after these natural rock walls. While originally part of Kaufman County, in 1873, Rockwall County was formed with Rockwall being the county seat.[12]
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.6 square miles (82 km2), of which 22.3 square miles (58 km2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) (1.63%) is water.
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Rockwall has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[14]
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 47,251 people, 16,151 households, and 12,771 families residing in the city.
Government
Local government
The Rockwall County Courthouse in Rockwall
According to the city's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Fund Financial Statements, the city's various funds had $39.0 million in revenues, $42.2 million in expenditures, $32.3 million in total assets, $3.6 million in total liabilities, and $25.9 million in investments.[20]
The structure of the management and coordination of city services is:[21]
Department
Director
City Manager
Mary Smith
Assistant City Manager
Joey Boyd
Director of Public Works/City Engineer
Amy Williams, PE
Director of Parks and Recreation
Travis Sales, MCPTM
Chief of Police
Ed Fowler
Fire Chief
Kenneth Cullins
Director of Planning
Ryan Miller, AICP
The city of Rockwall is a voluntary member of the North 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.
The city is served by the Rockwall Independent School District.
There are four public high schools in Rockwall: Rockwall High School, Rockwall-Heath High School, The Rockwall High School Freshman Center, and The Rockwall-Heath High School Freshman Center. There are also sixteen elementary schools and three middle schools in Rockwall.
Higher education
The city is home to the Higher Education Center at Rockwall, which is part of the community college district, Collin College. The campus is the District's first campus outside of Collin County itself. Texas A&M University-Commerce holds classes at the center.
Transportation
Rockwall is served by the following highways that run through the city:
Rockwall offers many different sports complexes as well as activities. Airport Road boasts baseball fields, as well as the Landing Point complex containing the Texas International Fencing Center, zipline and dance facilities. The Rockwall Indoor Sports Expo is located on South 205. Lake Ray Hubbard has several boating marinas and is used for jet skiing.
Rockwall also offers 2 different Golf Courses [24] within 17 miles of the center of Rockwall.
^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 can be of any race.[18][19]
^Crook, W.W. III, M.D. Hughston and J.L. McCraw, 2009, The Brushy Creek Clovis Site (41HU74): An Early Paleoindian Occupation in Hunt County, Texas. The Record, Dallas Archeological Society 56(1):1-18.
^Crook, W. W., III, 2011, A Possible Association of Worked Flakes with Probosidian Bones near Lake Lavon, Collin County, Texas. Archeological Journal of the Texas Prairie-Savannah 1(1):4-8.
^Ferring, C.R., 2000, The Archeology and Paleoecology of the Aubrey Clovis Site (41DN79) Denton County, Texas. Center for Environmental Archeology, Department of Geography, University of North Texas, Denton.
^ abMonroe, J.N., 1950, Origin of the clastic dikes in the Rockwall area, Texas. Field and Laboratory. v. 18, no. 4, pp. 133-143.
