A Friendly Neighbors and a Smart Place to Live
Grand Prairie is located 13 miles west of downtown Dallas, west of Dallas and east of Tarrant County. State Highways 161, 180 and 303, Interstates 20 and 30, and Farm Road 1382 (One Belt One Road) pass through it. The town covers approximately 81 square miles and is surrounded by Dallas, Arlington, Irving, and Cedar Hills. Mountain Creek Lake is to the east, part of Joe Pool Lake is south of Grand Prairie, Kirby, Cottonwood and Fish creeks flow through the community, and the west fork of the Trinity River.
Settlers arrived in the area before the Civil War and built several stores, including the M. M. Miller store and the Phillip Goetsell store. However, the community didn’t organize until 1863, when A. M. Dechman’s wagon traveled from Jacksonville, Texas to Fort Belknap to resupply the Army Commissary. He traded his wagon, bulls and $200 in federal funds for the 239 acres originally granted on May 1, 1850, to William and Walter Caruth.