Rockwall County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. At 149 square miles, Rockwall County has the smallest area of any Texas county. Per the 2020 Census, its population was 107,819. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Rockwall. The county and city are named for a wall-like subterranean rock formation that runs throughout the county. Rockwall County is part of the

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

- Arlington

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. It was one of the top 25 fastest-growing counties in the U.S. in 2010. Rockwall County is listed as the sixth-wealthiest county in Texas. Cities in Rockwall county include Rockwall,

Heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

, Royse City, Fate, McClendon-Chisholm, Mobile City, and part of Rowlett.

History

Rockwall County was formed in 1873 from portions of Kaufman County. It split off because access to the county seat of

Kaufman Kaufman or Kauffman may refer to: People *Kaufmann (surname) ''Includes Kaufman, Kauffman, Kauffmann'' Places * Kaufman, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Madison Count * Kaufman, Texas, a city in Kaufman County * Kaufman County, Texas, ...

was inconvenient. It was named for its county seat, Rockwall. Rockwall County also is home to the great rock wall, which is no longer in public view today.

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the county has an area of , of which are land and (15%) are covered by water. It is the smallest county by area in Texas.

Major highways

Interstate 30 Interstate 30 (I-30) is a Interstate Highway in the southern states of Texas and Arkansas in the United States. I-30 travels from I-20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, and Texarkana, Texas, to I-40 in North Little Rock, A ...

* U.S. Highway 67 * State Highway 66 * State Highway 205 * State Highway 276

Adjacent counties

* Collin County (north) *

Hunt County Hunt County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 99,956. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is named for Memucan Hunt, Jr., the first Republic of Texas Minister to the United States from ...

(east) * Kaufman County (south) * Dallas County (west)

Communities

(mostly in Dallas County with small parts in Collin, Denton,

and Rockwall counties) * Fate *

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

(mostly in Dallas County with a small part in Collin County) *

(small part in Kaufman County) * McLendon-Chisholm * Mobile City * Rockwall (county seat) * Rowlett (mostly in Dallas County) * Royse City (partly in Collin and Hunt counties) * Wylie (mostly in Collin County and a small part in Dallas County)

Demographics

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.'' According to the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 43,080 people, 14,530 households, and 11,972 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

was 334 people per square mile (129/km²). There were 15,351 housing units at an average density of 119 per square mile (46/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 89.17%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 3.24%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.40% Native American, 1.32% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 4.45% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. 11.07% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. By the 2020 census, its population increased to 107,819 with a racial and ethnic makeup of 65.11% non-Hispanic whites, 7.59% African Americans, 0.44% Native Americans, 3.07% Asians, 0.07% Pacific Islanders, 0.32% some other race, 4.34% multiracial, and 19.07% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Education

The following school districts serve Rockwall County: * Rockwall Independent School District (small portion in Kaufman County) * Royse City Independent School District (small portion in Collin, Hunt counties) From 1997 to 2015 the number of non-Hispanic white children in K-12 schools in the county increased by 6,000 as part of a trend of

white flight White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...

and suburbanization by non-Hispanic white families. Collin College's official service area includes all of Rockwall County.Texas Education Code, Sec. 130.175. COLLIN COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT SERVICE AREA.
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Politics

Prior to 1972, Rockwall County was a Democratic stronghold. The 1968 election was highly transitional for the county with

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing ...

only winning with 39% of the vote thanks to the strong third-party candidacy of

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist a ...

. From 1972 on, the county has become a Republican stronghold. George H. W. Bush in 1992 has been the only Republican to fail to win a majority in the county since then, as the strong third-party candidacy of

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an indepe ...

that year led him to a second-place finish in the county over national winner

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

. However, the county was represented in Congress by a Democrat as late as January 2004, when Representative & Rockwall resident Ralph Hall, a conservative Democrat, switched parties and became a Republican.

Local government

Rockwall County is divided into four precincts, each represented by a

County Commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

. As of the most recent elections in 2020, all four Commissioners are Republicans.

References

External links

Rockwall County government's website
* {{authority control Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex 1873 establishments in Texas Populated places established in 1873