Rockwall, Texas, United States

🇺🇸 Rockwall is a city in Rockwall County, Texas, United States, which is part of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. It is the county seat of Rockwall County. The name Rockwall is derived from a naturally jointed geological formation, which has the appearance of an artificial wall.

History The association of Paleo-Indian artifacts with extinct Pleistocene mammal 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. 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 Cretaceous marl. 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.

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.

Rockwall is on the eastern shore of Lake Ray Hubbard, approximately 20 miles north-east of Dallas. It is on state highways 205 and 66, north of Interstate 30.

Demographics As of the 2020 United States census, there were 47,251 people, 16,151 households, and 12,771 families residing in the city.

Government 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. 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.

Education The city is served by the Rockwall Independent School District. There are two public high schools in Rockwall: Rockwall High School and Rockwall-Heath High School. There are sixteen elementary schools and three middle schools in Rockwall.

Education: University 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.

Transport Rockwall is served by the following highways that run through the city: • Interstate 30 • U.S. Highway 67 (runs concurrent with Interstate 30) • State Highway 66 • State Highway 205 • State Highway 276 • Farm to Market 549 • Farm to Market 552 • Farm to Market 740

Ralph M. Hall/Rockwall Municipal Airport is located two miles east of the city and is used mostly by small general aviation aircraft.

Sport 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 within 17 miles of the centre of Rockwall.