Rowlett

History

Rowlett derives its name from Rowlett Creek, which flows into Lake Ray Hubbard and is a major tributary of the east fork of the Trinity River. The creek in turn was named for a waterway running through the property of Daniel Rowlett who moved from Kentucky to Bonham, Texas, in 1835. Daniel, who was a member of the Smoot-Rowlett political family, had no direct dealings with the town that now bears his name. The first post office opened on April 5, 1880, and it was called "Morris" after Postmaster Austin Morris. The town was later renamed "Rowlett". The Dallas and Greenville Railway passed through the town in 1886, connecting Dallas with Greenville, Texas, and the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. Shortly after its opening, the line was formally sold to the MKT. In 1921, the town was a stop on the Bankhead Highway. The town incorporated in 1952 when its population was 250. In the 1960s, the town languished as Interstate 30 bypassed Rowlett. The town has had a building boom since the completion of Lake Ray Hubbard in 1971 – growing to 1,600 by 1973; 10,573 by 1989; 23,260 by 1990; and 44,503 by 2000. Rowlett gained international notoriety in 1996 when local resident Darlie Routier was convicted of murdering her children as they slept. In 2003, the town made an unsuccessful formal proposal to get the Dallas Cowboys to move to a "5-Point Park" on the banks of Lake Ray Hubbard when the lease for Texas Stadium expires. In 2013, the Rowlett City Council was challenged by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and Metroplex Atheists regarding opening prayer invocations at city hall meetings. In a court case in May 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed a previous court ruling (Marsh v. Chambers) upholding the tradition of opening legislative sessions with sectarian prayer…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and , or 1.84%, is water. |date=March 2012 }}

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  18,137
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,532
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  15,478
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  14,127
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,664
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,214
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,984
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,242

Largest nearby schools

• SACHSE H S
  High · SACHSE · 2,997 students · 18.2:1 ratio
• N GARLAND H S
  High · GARLAND · 2,802 students · 16.9:1 ratio
• GARLAND H S
  High · GARLAND · 2,484 students · 16:1 ratio
• ROWLETT H S
  High · ROWLETT · 2,356 students · 16:1 ratio
• BERKNER H S
  High · RICHARDSON · 2,290 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• BRYAN ADAMS H S LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
  High · DALLAS · 2,271 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• LAKEVIEW CENTENNIAL H S
  High · GARLAND · 2,258 students · 15.8:1 ratio
• NAAMAN FOREST H S
  High · GARLAND · 2,221 students · 17.9:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3.1 — 2024-05-01
  7 km SSW of Mansfield, Texas
• M 3.2 — 2024-05-01
  7 km S of Mansfield, Texas
• M 3.2 — 2019-10-01
  8 km SSW of Mansfield, Texas
• M 2.5 — 2019-07-08
  4 km SSE of Rendon, Texas
• M 2.8 — 2019-06-24
  1 km NW of Pottsboro, Texas
• M 3.4 — 2018-05-19
  8 km NW of Venus, Texas