Lewisville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Denton County with portions extending into Dallas County. As one of the Mid-Cities within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the 2020 census reported a population of 111,822.
Originally called Holford's Prairie, Lewisville dates back to the early 1840s. The arrival of the town's first railroad in 1881 engendered its initial growth, and the expansion of the area's transportation infrastructure spurred further development in the early part of the 20th century. Lewisville incorporated in 1925, and when construction of Lewisville Lake was completed in the 1950s, the city began to expand rapidly.
Lewisville's proximity to Lewisville Lake has made it a recreational hub of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The area's transportation infrastructure has evolved around the I-35 Corridor along Interstate 35E. The diversity of its population and industry such as multiple landfills, has created a stable economic climate. Lewisville Independent School District provides most of the area's public education programs.
History
Settlement In 1841, the Republic of Texas chartered the Peters Colony Land Grant Company (named for William Smalling Peters, publisher of the song "Oh! Susanna") to settle the North Texas area. In 1844, John W. King and his wife settled on the east side of the prairie, where the city now lies. Baptist settlers from Platte County, Missouri, settled on the west side; among them were John and James Holford, who named the area Holford's Prairie. Further south, Presbyterians established a church and called it Flower Mound. In the confusion over land ownership after the Hedgcoxe War, Basdeal Lewis purchased Holford's Prairie in 1853 and renamed it after himself.
In 1845, the Fox family, which owned about a dozen slaves, buried a slave child called Melinda on the family farm, which eventually became the town's cemetery for black residents. Named Fox–Hembry Cemetery, the plot still exists today. After it had fallen into disrepair, local residents and businesses gathered to restore it in 2011. Though Abraham Lincoln was not on the ballot in the area for the 1860 Presidential election, residents of Lewisville (listed as "Hollforts" on election results) still gave John C. Breckinridge only a 44–31 majority over an electoral fusion option.
During Reconstruction, Lewisville became home to Denton County's first cotton gin. Built in 1867, it could produce up to three bales per day. The Thirteenth Texas Legislature chartered the Dallas and Wichita Railroad (later the Missouri–Kansas–Texas) on terms requiring 20 miles of track to be in running order by July 1, 1875. Lewisville paid the company $15,000 to come to the city, with a promise of another $5,000 on completion. The company fulfilled the deal by completing the railroad tracks to a point just south of Lewisville on the morning of the deadline, and the line began running full-time in 1881. Republicans in the Fourteenth Texas Legislature passed a law on April 30, 1874, prohibiting alcohol within two miles of the town. Many residents ignored the law, however, and the city retained as many as 17 saloons at one point. The population of the unincorporated town was 500 in 1888.
Progress
On January 15, 1925, residents voted by a margin of 17 votes to incorporate Lewisville, which established its official boundaries as a city. By 1930, Lewisville's population had increased to 853, making it the fourth-most populous municipality in Denton County (behind Denton, Sanger, and Pilot Point).
Because the city's economy had become diversified before the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Lewisville was relatively well insulated from the Great Depression. Many residents, including business leaders, nevertheless supported the New Deal programs of Franklin D. Roosevelt. By 1936, the Works Progress Administration operated a cannery in the city to provide temporary jobs for unemployed residents. As an extension of the Good Roads Movement, which had been prominent in Denton County since the early 1910s, residents formed the Good Roads Committee of Lewisville to lobby state and federal officials for funding to create better streets. Lewisville celebrated the paving of the U.S. Route 77 between Denton and Dallas in 1931 with a "Coming Out of the Mud" ceremony. The new pavement closed the "Lewisville Gap" between the two cities, a stretch of dirt road through the city that often became too muddy for travel.
The new road also led indirectly to the downfall of the area's public transportation system. Between 1925 and 1932, the Texas Interurban Railway, an electric commuter rail service that ran from Dallas to Denton, operated a station in Lewisville. Business leaders in the Lewisville Chamber of Commerce welcomed the service at the time, proudly citing the city's progressive citizenship. The area's low population density could not sustain the venture, however, and in 1932, the line went out of business and immediately halted service.
On April 25, 1934, Raymond Hamilton of the Barrow gang robbed the First National Bank of Lewisville. Residents chased him to Howe, Texas, where he was captured at a roadblock and transferred to Dallas County Jail.
Growth Lewisville's rapid growth began when construction of the Garza–Little Elm Dam finished in 1954, expanding the Garza–Little Elm Reservoir into what is now Lewisville Lake. The city adopted a home-rule charter for a council–manager style of municipal government in 1963, becoming one of only a few home-rule cities in Texas with a population less than 5,000. In September 1969, 13 days after Woodstock, the city hosted the Texas International Pop Festival, which drew over 150,000 spectators and featured performances by Janis Joplin, B.B. King, and Led Zeppelin. In 2011, the Texas Historical Commission dedicated a historical event marker at the Hebron A-train station in Lewisville to commemorate the event.
When Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport opened to the south of the city in 1974 and Vista Ridge Mall opened at the intersection of Interstate 35E and Round Grove Road in 1989, Lewisville began to undergo rapid suburban growth. Its population increased from 24,273 in 1980 to 46,521 in 1990, making it the 40th-most populous city in Texas. In the early 1990s, the Lewisville Chamber of Commerce marketed the city with the slogan "City of Expanding Horizons". Its population reached 77,737 in 2000, 95,290 in 2010, and 111,822 in 2020. In November 2021, the city completed the annexation of the Castle Hills development, located northeast of the city, into its boundaries, adding almost 3000 acres and 18,000 residents.
Geography Lewisville has a total area of , of which is covered by water. It lies at the southern end of Denton County and the northern end of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, in the eastern part of the Cross Timbers region of Texas between the Texas Blackland Prairies and the Grand Prairie. Vista Ridge, a small plateau, is in the southeastern corner of Lewisville, and the lowest part of Denton County, at , is found in the city. Lewisville sits above the Barnett Shale, a geological formation containing a large quantity of natural shale gas.
Water constitutes about 14% of the city's total area, including Lewisville Lake, the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, and two local tributaries of the Elm Fork - Prairie Creek and Timber Creek. A riparian zone encompasses a portion of the city in the southeast. The intersection of the Elm Fork and Lake Lewisville has given rise to a delta at the southern end of the lake, extending south. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has labeled much of the area surrounding the delta as "Zone AE", meaning the area is subject to 100-year flood precautions.
Climate Lewisville's climate is classified as humid subtropical. Its Köppen climate classification is Cfa, which means it has a temperate climate, does not have a dry season, and has a hot summer. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Lewisville is in a hardiness zone of 8a. The city is seldom affected by extreme weather, but Hurricane Carla in 1961 brought winds and caused swells on Lewisville Lake. During heavy rains, Timber Creek can overflow its banks, and on rare occasions, flood some of the surrounding homes. The National Weather Service defines no official borders for Tornado Alley, but Lewisville is considered to be in it.
Demographics
As of the 2020 census, 111,822 people lived in Lewisville.
Racial and ethnic composition +Lewisville city, Texas – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010White alone (NH)53,70647,28040,67569.09%49.62%36.37%Black or African American alone (NH)5,62810,37017,2827.24%10.88%15.45%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)399.3473450.51%0.36%0.31%Asian alone (NH)2,9907,32512,5343.85%7.69%11.21%Pacific Islander alone (NH)2259690.03%0.06%0.06%Other Race alone (NH)892205120.11%0.23%0.46%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)1,1041,9064,5521.42%2.00%4.07%Hispanic or Latino (any race)13,79927,78335,85317.75%29.16%32.06%Total77,73795,290111,822100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, there were 43,926 households, 24,536 families, and the median age was 33.5 years; 23.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 9.3% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.3 males age 18 and over. Of the 43,926 households counted by the 2020 census, 32.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.9% were married-couple households, 21.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 30.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. There were 46,656 housing units, of which 5.9% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.6%. As of the 2020 census, 99.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.5% lived in rural areas. The 2020 census recorded the following racial composition: + Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 46,844 41.9% Black or African American 17,699 15.8% American Indian and Alaska Native 1,339 1.2% Asian 12,638 11.3% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 86 0.1% Some other race 15,747 14.1% Two or more races 17,469 15.6% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 35,853 32.1% By the 2020 census, its racial and ethnic makeup was 36.37% non-Hispanic White, 15.45% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 11.21% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.46% some other race, 4.07% multiracial, and 32.06% Hispanic or Latino American of any race.
2010 census The 2010 census recorded a population of 95,290 in Lewisville, up from the 77,737 recorded for the 2000 census, making it one of the 25 fastest-growing city populations in the United States. The 2010 population was made up of 37,496 households and 23,417 families. Its racial makeup in 2010 was 65.3% White, 11.2% African American, 0.7% Native American, 7.8% Asian (including a growing diaspora from Myanmar), 11.3% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. At 2010's census, 29.2% of the population was considered to be of Hispanic or Latino origin. Children under 18 lived in 35.5% of the households. The average household size was 2.53 persons and the average family size was 3.21 persons. The median age was 30.9 years. Between 2007 and 2011, the median income for a Lewisville household was $56,811, and per capita income was $28,144. About 9.6% of the population was below the poverty line, as compared to 17% for Texas as a whole.
2000 census The 2000 census recorded 77,737 people in Lewisville.