History of the Richardson Heights Community

The year was 1954 and the WW II veterans had completed their education and began to settle into their careers.

The robust economy was undergoing a huge expansion, which left unlimited job opportunities in the hands of the largest group of college attendees and graduates in the history of the United States.

Years of progressive leadership were beginning to pay off for the city of Dallas and business expansion was the key. Companies were growing and relocating to Dallas to participate in the development of a city that would be the cornerstone of the Southwest. Dallas became a model for successful entrepreneurial ventures and real estate development in both residential and commercial sectors was king. Exceptional planning and zoning by the city of Dallas set an example for the surrounding independent villages, soon to be known as Suburbs.

Just north of downtown Dallas the communities of Highland Park, established in 1908 and University Park, which was established in 1915, became the most sought after, residential neighborhoods in Dallas County. These two communities, known as the Park Cities, were wildly successful because of the beautiful urban planning, proximity to downtown and the first class independent school district. Southern Methodist University, a nationally ranked private university located in University Park also complemented the Park Cities culture. SMU provided a generation of young businessmen who were to have an impact on the all-new and robust Dallas economy.

1954 was also the year that Highway 75 or Central Expressway grew north to the small farming community of Richardson, just twelve miles of downtown Dallas. Highway 75 was to be the new highway that linked Dallas to McKinney, Sherman and Denison, Texas and on to the Oklahoma border.

Richardson, the last Dallas County town north of University Park was a sleepy, farming community of 1300 people blessed with rich soil and abundant water provided by multiple creeks and draws. It was Richardson where two young and ambitious SMU graduates and now business partners, George Underwood and Lindsey Embrey decide to take a shot at land development.

The partners, having some home building experience under their belts, decided to buy a small farm in Southwest Richardson which was near new highway 75 and Spring Valley road. Their plan was to develop and sell residential lots and build a retail center. The original business plan proposed a complete sellout of the first 280+ lots in two years with retail to follow. The lots were ready just in time for the opening of Central Expressway to Richardson. By word of mouth, and advertising in the Dallas Morning News combined with a few simplistic signs, the lots were sold out in two weeks! The name of this fast selling subdivision was Richardson Heights; the new Richardson, Texas.

Richardson Heights Incorporated, under the leadership of two incredibly talented, young businessmen teamed up with the progressive and willing leaders of the town of Richardson. This first class team effort combined to create the most sought after and fastest growing bedroom community in suburban Dallas, County as well as the state of Texas. Richardson became the perfect compliment to the much-heralded towns of Highland and University Park that had been founded some forty years earlier. In just six short years, Underwood and Embry bought up twelve contiguous farms and developed over five thousand residential lots in the Richardson Heights subdivisions. By the year 1970, the population of Richardson, Texas had soared to over 40,000!

The Richardson Heights development was planned around its varied topographical features that include multiple creeks, draws, valleys and hills. The development features included curvilinear streets with T intersections, cul-de-sacs, circles and only a few through streets. There are many large parks and large neighborhood school sites with beautifully maintained mid-century modern school buildings. The result was one of the most masterfully designed 1950's residential communities in the Nation. The thoughtful planning of the past is exactly what today's young homebuyers are seeking.

Today the Richardson Heights neighborhood with all of its beautifully designed infrastructure and improvements remains intact.

The aging homes although built by the top standards of the day including pier and beam foundations, brick veneers and hardwood flooring are solid and retain the mostly ranch architecture. While most of the homes are modest in size, ranging from 1500 to 2500 square feet, the lots they are built on average 9000 square feet with a minimum width of 64 front feet. The estate areas offer lots ranging from 80 to 100 front feet, width, with a core of large lots built along the creeks.

The original owners were mostly college degreed with stable employment offered locally and downtown. These owners were proud of their homes and were able to plant lasting trees including many Oaks, Elms and others native to the area. These trees are now mature and huge and add the ultimate enhancement to a neighborhood ripe for re-development.

The leadership of Richardson was pleased with the bedroom community concept and decided early on that this was to be a white-collar town and offered no zoning for major manufacturing. The first major employer in Richardson was Collins Radio, having relocated from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Collins was the National leader in the engineering and producing of communications equipment for aircraft. The relocation of Collins Radio brought with it, many highly educated and talented engineers who set the trends for 50's Richardson. Soon after the Collins Radio relocation, Richardson became the home of what has become one of the great companies of the World, Texas Instruments. This was the Fifties and this was the place where the foundation of modern technology was established locally, for an International market. There weren't many suburbs like Richardson then and there are even fewer like it now.

Texas Instruments today employs over 10,500 people at its Dallas and Richardson plants and offices, with over 31,000 employees Worldwide. TI, as the company calls itself, is noted for the invention of the transistor radio, the intergraded circuit, and the hand held calculator, the single chip micro computer and the single chip micro processor and many other milestone inventions. Today, TI is ranked third in the World as a producer of semiconductors.

With the 1990's establishment of what has become known as the Telecom Corridor, centered at Campbell Road and 75, which is now host to more than 5700 companies with over 600 of them related to high technology. These companies include Nortel, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Tellabs, ATT and many more. The companies offer a combined employment of over 87,000 people in what is America's, Silicon Prairie. The Silicon Prairie is geographically located along the eight-mile stretch of the Central Expressway that passes through Richardson, beginning at Loop 635 to south and extending to Loop 190 to the north. The Silicon Prairie with its Telecom Corridor has the highest concentration of high tech companies in the state of Texas and one of the largest in the Nation.

The Richardson Independent School District was blessed with suburban Dallas County's, highest educated population; therefore as the new residents poured in, the school system blossomed. With leadership provided by this new generation of educated citizens the RISD became an educational powerhouse. All through the sixty's and seventies the RISD stayed in a tight competition with the Highland Park Independent School System, the areas established leader, for first place. These two school systems were always the first academically and Richardson High School and Highland Park High School were always contenders athletically as well.

As Richardson grew in population on the east and northeast side and as the part of the Richardson School District that expands into Dallas developed, the system grew to include four high schools. The RISD became one of the largest suburban school districts in the state and became Dallas County's school district of choice second only to Highland Park. As the RISD grew it became and has remained rooted in technology and stands alone as the technological giant of the Dallas Metro Area school systems.

In 1961 the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest was established, an outgrowth of technology giant Texas Instruments and later became The University of Texas at Dallas. UTD fosters a strong tradition of academic excellence. UTD became part of the U. T. System in 1969, offered only graduate degrees until 1975, and admitted its first freshman class in 1990. Today, it ranks at or near the top in the number of computer science degrees awarded each year in the United States. With a current enrollment of more than 14,000 students and a world-class faculty that includes two Nobel laureates, UTD aims to provide Texas and the nation with the benefits of educational and research programs of the highest quality. By merging theory with practice in classrooms and at the university's 29 research centers, curious minds are challenged to find the answers to their questions.

Richardson with its core of educated residents has established a thriving and diverse group of cultural organizations, many of which date back to the early sixties. These organizations include the Richardson Symphony Orchestra, the Community Band, the Theatre Centre, The Repertory Company Theatre, the Chamber Music Society, the Visual Art Society and a number of ballet troupes.

The recreational resources for a city of this size are second to none in the area. There are 27 public parks with over 850 acres of land, five public swimming pools, 40 miles of trails and parkways and 22 tennis courts located throughout the city, which are complimented by an additional 10 courts at the Huffines Tennis Center. There are also two public golf courses and Canyon Creek, a private golf club surrounded by residential development.