Place Information
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Mesquite is a suburb of Dallas located in Dallas County and Kaufman County, Texas (USA). The city had a total population of 124,523 in the 2000 census which increased to 129,902 in the 2005 census estimate. Mesquite is home to the Mesquite Championship Rodeo and is known as the "Rodeo Capital of Texas." The city is also home to computer video game producer id Software, creators of Doom and Quake. In 2001, the Mesquite Skeeters high school football team won the 5A Division I State Championship. History
The city was created on May 22, 1873 by A.R. Alcott, a Texas & Pacific Railway engineer, who purchased land along the Texas & Pacific line outside of Dallas. The railroad, which ran from Dallas to Shreveport, began stopping at the newly-created town shortly thereafter and the city began to grow around the railroad. The city was officially incorporated on December 3, 1887. Mesquite prospered in the late 19th to the early 20th century and became a growing farming community, growing cotton, hay, corn and sugar and using the railroad line to ship the raw goods. The town remained predominantly agrarian until after World War II, when the boom in suburbs also took root in Mesquite as new subdivisions were created. The population exploded, growing from 1,696 in the 1950 census to 27,526 in 1960 and 55,131 in 1970. In 1958, the Mesquite Championship Rodeo was established, and in 1959, Big Town Mall opened as the first enclosed shopping mall in the Southwest. The mall was demolished in the summer of 2006. By 1970, LBJ Freeway (I-635) was constructed, connecting Mesquite to its neighbors, Garland to the north and Balch Springs to the south. Also in 1971, Town East Mall was constructed. The mall was used by director Ron Howard to film portions of the movie "Cotton Candy" in 1978. Its associated traffic and shops would continue to grow the town. By the 1990 census, the town had grown to 101,484 people, nearly twice the population twenty years earlier. In 1986, the Mesquite Arena (now named Resistol Arena) opened its doors as the home for the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. By 1998, the facility was expanded to include a Convention Center, Exhibition Hall and a Hampton Inn & Suites. Research Tips
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