Mesquite, Texas

City of Mesquite
—  City  —
Mesquite Tower rises over Memorial Stadium in Mesquite.
Motto: Real. Texas. Flavor.
Location within Dallas County and the state of Texas
Coordinates: 32°46′58″N 96°36′36″W / 32.78278°N 96.61°W / 32.78278; -96.61Coordinates: 32°46′58″N 96°36′36″W / 32.78278°N 96.61°W / 32.78278; -96.61
Country	United States
State	Texas
Counties	Dallas, Kaufman
Government
- Type	Council-Manager
- City Council	Mayor John Monaco Stan Pickett Dennis Tarpley Al Forsythe Shirley Roberts Bill Porter
- City Manager	Ted Barron
Area
- Total	43.5 sq mi (112.6 km2)
- Land	43.4 sq mi (112.5 km2)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km2)
Elevation	495 ft (151 m)
Population (2010)
- Total	139,824
- Density	3,216/sq mi (1,241.7/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	75149, 75150, 75180, 75181, 75185, 75187
Area code(s)	214, 469, 972
FIPS code	48-47892[1]
GNIS feature ID	1341400[2]
Website	http://www.cityofmesquite.com/

Mesquite is a city located within the Dallas/Ft.Worth area of Texas. As of the 2010 US Census, the population was 139,824.

History

The city was founded May 22, 1873, by a Texas & Pacific Railway engineer who purchased land along the Texas & Pacific line outside of Dallas. The railroad, which ran from Dallas to Shreveport, began stopping at the newly-created town shortly thereafter, and the city began to grow around the railroad. The city was officially incorporated on December 3, 1887.

Mesquite prospered through the late 19th century and early 20th century as a farming community growing cotton, hay, corn and sugar and using the railroad to ship raw goods. The town remained predominantly agrarian until after World War II when the suburban boom also took root in Mesquite. The city's population rapidly grew from 1,696 in the 1950 census to 27,526 in 1960 and 55,131 in 1970.

In 1958, the Mesquite Championship Rodeo was established, and in 1959, Big Town Mall opened as the first enclosed shopping mall in the Southwest. The mall was demolished in the summer of 2006.

By 1970, LBJ Freeway (I-635) was constructed, connecting Mesquite to its neighbors, Garland to the north and Balch Springs to the south. Also in 1971, Town East Mall was constructed. The mall was used by director Ron Howard to film portions of the movie "Cotton Candy" in 1978. The mall's associated traffic and shops would continue to grow the town. By the 1990 census, the city had grown to 101,484 people, nearly twice the population twenty years earlier.

In 1986, the Mesquite Arena (now named Resistol Arena) opened its doors as the new home for the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. By 1998, the facility was expanded to include a Convention Center, Exhibition Hall and a Hampton Inn & Suites.

Geography

Mesquite is located at 32°46′58″N 96°36′36″W / 32.782878°N 96.609862°W / 32.782878; -96.609862 (32.782878, -96.609862).^[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 43.5 square miles (112.6 km²), of which 43.4 square miles (112.5 km²) of is land and 0.1 square miles (0.1 km²) (0.12%) is water.

Mesquite, Texas
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.9   55 36     2.3   61 41     3.1   69 49     3.5   77 56     5.3   84 65     3.9   92 73     2.4   96 77     2.2   96 76     2.7   89 69     4.7   79 58     2.6   66 47     2.5   57 39 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches Source: Weather.com / NWS
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     48   13 2     59   16 5     80   21 9     88   25 13     135   29 18     100   33 23     62   36 25     55   36 24     67   32 21     118   26 14     66   19 8     64   14 4 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm

Climate

• On average, the warmest month is July.
• The highest recorded temperature was 112°F in 1980.
• The average coolest month is January.
• The lowest recorded temperature was 1°F in 1989.
• May is the average wettest month.

Mesquite is considered to be part of the humid subtropical region.

Government

Local Government

The City Council consists of six Council members. Councilmembers serve two-year terms and are responsible for appointing the City Health Officer, Independent Auditor, Municipal Judge, City Manager, City Attorney, City Secretary and members of various Boards and Commissions. The Mayor and six Councilmembers are elected at large; however, four Council positions have residency requirements.

According to the citys most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the citys various funds had $180.5 million in Revenues, $162.7 million in expenditures, $546.5 million in total assets, $214.6 million in total liabilities, and $108.1 million in cash and investments.^[4]

The structure of the management and coordination of city services is:^[4]

City Department	Director
City Manager	Ted Baron
Deputy City Manager	Carol Zolnerowich
Assistant City Manager	Jerry Dittman
Director of Finance	Donald W. Simons
Fire Chief	Mark Kerby
Director or Municipal Airport	Cynthia Godfrey
Police Chief	Derek Rohde
Director of Parks and Recreation	Cliff Keheley
Director of Community Development	Richard Gertson
Director of Human Resources	George Mones
Director of Public Works	Tim Tumulty
Director of Information Technology	Zak LaJoie
Director of Arts Center	Mike Templeton
Director of Library Services	Jeannie Johnson
Director of Housing and Community Services	Valerie Bradley
Director of Marketing & Tourism	John Mayner
Communications Manager	Wayne Larson, APR
Director of Economic Development	Thomas E. Palmer

State representations

The Texas Department of Transportation operates the Dallas District Office in Mesquite.^[5]

Education

Public schools

Mesquite Independent School District provides primary and secondary (K-12) education to most areas of Mesquite. A small portion of Mesquite is served by Dallas Independent School District. While another small area in Kaufman County is within the Forney Independent School District, the section has no residents. Mesquite also serves an area of Balch Springs.

Mesquite is home to five public high schools: Mesquite High School, North Mesquite High School, West Mesquite High School, Poteet High School, John Horn High School. In 2001, the Mesquite Skeeters high school football team won the 5A Division I State Championship.

Private schools

Dallas Christian High School is located in Mesquite.

Colleges and universities

Higher education is provided by two institutions. Eastfield College provides undergraduate degrees and continuing education credits as part of the Dallas County Community College District. The Texas A&M University-Commerce Mesquite Metroplex Center provides graduate-level courses and degrees in a variety of fields.

Transportation

Mesquite is served by a publicly owned and -operated airport, Mesquite Metro Airport.^[6] The airport includes a 6,000 ft. lighted runway with ILS. General aviation comprises approximately 75% of daily operations while commercial aviation comprises the rest.^[7] Mesquite Metro Airport is popular among transient aircraft due to its location near Dallas and favorable fuel prices.^[8]

Two other nearby airports, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, provide regular commercial passenger service to the region. Love Field is approximately 15 miles from Mesquite; DFW Airport is approximately 30 miles from Mesquite.

Mesquite is not a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, so general public transportation is not available in the city. However, the city operates its own paratransit service for elderly and disabled residents.^[9]

Union Pacific Railroad operates an intermodal facility for its freight rail service as part of the Skyline Industrial Park.

Highways

Mesquite is also served by three interstate highways, one US Hwy, and one state highway. IH 20, IH 30, IH 635, US Hwy 80, and SH 352 all pass through Mesquite. Belt Line Road also passes through Mesquite and serves as a major road.

Demographics

• Total population: 139,824 (2010 US Census)
• Total households: 43,926
• Total families: 32,900
• Density 2,868.1 people/mi² (1,107.3/km²)
• Housing density 1,065.2/mi² (411.2/mi²)
• Racial makeup:
  • 73.54% White
  • 3.75% Asian
  • 13.32% African American
  • 0.60% Native American
  • 0.05% Pacific Islander
  • 6.43% from other races
  • 2.31% from two or more races
  • 15.66% Hispanic or Latino of any race
• Per capita income: $20,890
• Median household income: $50,424
• Median family income: $56,357
• Median income (males): $37,756
• Median income (females): $29,905

About 5.0% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

There were 43,926 households out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.1% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.5% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

Economy

According to the City's 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,^[4] the top employers in the city are:

#	Employer	# of Employees	% of Total City Employment
1	United Parcel Service Inc.	3,000	4.22%
2	Dallas Regional Medical Center	1,150	1.62%
3	City of Mesquite	1,054	1.48%
4	Sears	450	0.63%
5	Texas Dept of Transportation - Dallas District	425	0.60%
6	Baker Drywall LTD	400	0.56%
7	Dallas County Community College	400	0.56%
8	Christian Care Center	400	0.56%
9	Integra Color	383	0.54%
10	Pepsi-Cola Metro Bottling Co Inc	325	0.46%

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods include:

• Lawson
• Park View
• Edgemont Park
• Creek Crossing
• Creek Crossing II
• Falcon's Lair
• Falcon's Ridge
• Pecan Creek
• Rollingwood Hills
• Skyline
• Pasadena Gardens
• Original Town
• Melton
• Tealwood

Constructions

• Mesquite Tower, a lattice tower of unusual design.
• Town East Tower is the tallest inhabited building in Mesquite, standing seven stories high.

Notable people

• Joe Bowden - Former professional football player for the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Dallas Cowboys.
• John D. Carmack - American game programmer and the co-founder of id Software. ^[10] Lead programmer of the id computer games Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, their sequels and the Commander Keen series of games.
• Ray Cunningham - Former professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Terry Fator - Singer and Ventriloquist, Winner of America's Got Talent in 2007^[11]
• Don Gay - eight-time PRCA world champion bullrider.
• Todd Graham - College football coach. Current head coach of the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.
• Jerry Hall - Actress and model, former wife of Mick Jagger and mother of four of his children.
• Taylor Lipsett - Gold Medalist in Sled Hockey at the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, B.C. He led Team USA in goals, with 5 goals in 5 games, and added 2 assists for a total of 7 points.
• Sean Lowe - Former professional baseball player for the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Kansas City Royals.
• Bryan Massey - Actor and writer.
• Taylor Parks - Actress and singer, best known as Little Inez in Hairspray (2007 film)^[12]
• Greg Vaughan- actor on General Hospital.

References

1. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} City of Mesquite CAFR Retrieved 2009-08-17
5. ^ "Dallas District Office." Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved on January 11, 2010.
6. ^ [1] City of Mesquite web site. Access 10 September 2006
7. ^ [2] City of Mesquite web site. Accessed 9 September 2006
8. ^ [3]AirNav: Mesquite Metro Airport. Accessed 8 September 2006
9. ^ [4]City of Mesquite web site. Accessed 9 September 2006
10. ^ Biography for John Carmack at the Internet Movie Database
11. ^ http://www.cedarcreekpilot.com/features/local_story_186120320.html Cedar Creek Pilot article
12. ^ http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3746845

External links

• Official website
• Mesquite from the Handbook of Texas Online