Grand Prairie ISD history

Bucket brigades were used to fight most fires, including a 1903 blaze that destroyed a grocery store, saddle shop and doctor’s office.

By 1904 ten formal grades had been formed.

The first school bonds were issued on July 1, 1905, and totaled $8,000.

The first vote for incorporation was on March 14, 1908, and failed by 57 against and 51 for.

A bucket brigade was of little use on March 26, 1909, when a fire started in the train depot and destroyed an entire business block.

In 1910, Doctor Horace V. Copeland, who helped deliver more than 4,000 babies in his 60-year career, bought the first automobile in Dallas County.

In 1911, the first graduating class with only four students completes the high school program.

The Spikes Brothers Broom Factory moved there from Dallas in 1912 and the Dalworth Business College opened in what is now the historic Anderson Building.

Grand Prairie installed its first water system in 1918.

In the early 1920’s, the children in the Dalworth area, attended school in the Masonic Lodge.

31, 1926, Grand Prairie celebrated the completion of one of the most extensive paving programs ever taken on by a city its size.

Dewey Millar opened Millar Drug Store, now Main Street Café, in 1927 at 106 W. Main St, selling ice cream and sodas at the fountain and medications at the counter.

In 1929, the Curtiss-Wright Flying Service opened near Dalworth, marking the beginning of what would become Grand Prairie’s rich history of aviation.

In 1931, Ray Hamilton and Clyde Barrow robbed the Interurban ticket office in downtown Grand Prairie.

In 1942, Dalworth Park dissolved its incorporation and was annexed into the city of Grand Prairie.

In 1945, the city appointed J.C. Swadley its first paid fireman at a salary of $175 per month.

In 1957, the Dallas-Fort Worth turnpike opened, streamlining traffic from Dallas to Fort Worth and detouring traffic away from downtown Grand Prairie.

Annexation resulted in growth, for 1962 marked Grand Prairie’s greatest single year record in construction growth in its history, with almost $12 million in building permits issued.

By 1966, Dalworth High integrated with Grand Prairie High and Dalworth returned to being an elementary school.

In the fall of 1969, the doors opened to 448 students at South Grand Prairie High School, of which 87 were Seniors.

In 1972, City Hall received its first computer, which was purchased to handle the city’s water bill accounts and cost $2,000 a month.

In 1984, Grand Prairie’s own Charley Taylor was inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame.

In 1992, citizens passed a half cent sales tax to be used to build Lone Star Park, a class one horse racetrack.

The year 1997 was big for economic development with 23 new companies opening, including the first major retail in 10 years with Towne Crossing Center, featuring Home Depot and Target.

Ervin C. Whitt Elementary School opened in the fall of 2001 under the leadership of Dale Brown Jones.

In 2002, the city opened the Ruthe Jackson Center and a plethora of new parks financed by the 1/4 cent sales tax for parks: Splash Factory, Mountain Creek Soccer center, Charley Taylor baseball fields, McFalls softball fields and Parkhill Park football fields.

In 2004, Lone Star Park hosted the 21st running of the Breeders Cup World Thoroughbred Championship and the city opened the Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens.

In 2007 the city paid off Lone Star Park 18 years early and voters approved continuing the half cent sales tax to build a new public safety headquarters, active adult center and minor league baseball stadium.

The AirHogs minor league baseball team played their inaugural season in 2008, winning the American Association Southern Division Championship.

Dubiski Career High School opened in the fall of 2009.

In 2015, the District passed a $91 million bond election.

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The new officers, who will begin serving their term on January 1, 2021, are: