The Colony is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States, and a suburb of Dallas. The population was 44,534 at the 2020 census.
History
The Colony derives its name from the original Peters Colony. The Peters Colony headquarters was located within the current boundaries of The Colony in the historical community of Stewartsville and the site of the Hedgcoxe War. The Colony is also the site of Bridges Settlement (established during the years of the Republic of Texas and the oldest community in Denton County), Stewarts Creek, Rector, Stoverville and Camey, also known as Camey Spur.
One of the oldest portions of The Colony is Bridges Cemetery, established in 1857 on land owned by the Bridges family, is found on Morningstar Lane. The cemetery gates stand closed to the public except during certain dates when it is open to visitors by the local history committee.
The Colony did not exist before 1973, when home developers Fox and Jacobs (which became part of Centex) purchased located around State Highway 121 and Farm to Market Road 423. The name "The Colony" was chosen by Fox and Jacobs because they wanted its new development to share a sense of kinship with Texas' early history and "to create a living monument to the spirit and courage of the Peters Colonists ... those men and women who braved considerable hardships to begin new lives, in new homes, on new land." They planned the development to be a new "dream city" consisting primarily of single-family homes grouped as a "colony" and based on the city of Dallas' infrastructure specifications. In 1973, Fox and Jacobs negotiated an agreement with the city of Frisco to begin construction in its extraterritorial jurisdiction. In 1974, street construction began with many streets being named after early settlers and members of the construction crews. The first model homes were completed in August 1974 and the first families moved into their homes in October that year. The homes were served for water services by The Colony Municipal Utility District formed in 1974, electricity via Texas Power and Light, cable television via Lakeside CATV and telephone service via Southwestern Bell.
In 1977, the homeowners associations' petition to disannex the development from the city of Frisco's extraterritorial jurisdiction was approved. The Colony voted to become an incorporated city in January 1977 and became a Home Rule City in 1979. Residents of The Colony participated in two polls to select a name for the new city. Both polls chose the name "The Colony" and the name was ratified by the City Council in May 1977. In 1987, The Colony voted to merge with the small lakeside community of Eastvale.
Politics
The Colony is a home rule municipality with a council-manager form of government. It has a six-member council, with two members elected at large, as well as a city mayor. All meetings of the City Council are open to the public, and meetings are broadcast live on Time Warner Cable government access Channel 16, AT&T Uverse channel 99, as well as on the broadcast page of The Colony's website.
Joe McCourry has been mayor of The Colony for 11 years, and announced in late 2020 that this will be his last term. The current Mayor Pro Tem, Richard Boyer, announced his run for Mayor in early 2021.
Council members
The Colony has several Boards and Commissions, all of which list their current members, Term expiration dates, and meeting minutes on The Colony's website. Meetings usually have time setup in the agenda for Citizen input which can be submitted by email or presented in person at most board's meetings. Board applications are available on The Colony's website or at City Hall and a list of currently vacant positions can be found on the site as well.
Geography
The Colony is located at (33.090874, –96.884659).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which of it is land and , or 12.93%, is water.
The city is bordered on the west by Lewisville Lake and the city of Lewisville, on the north and east by Frisco, and on the south by the cities of Carrollton and Plano. Approximately of shoreline on Lewisville Lake (including two peninsulas) are contained within the city's boundaries, thus providing the basis for the city's nickname "City by the Lake."
Climate
The Colony is part of the humid subtropical region.
Major highways
Main lanes: Sam Rayburn Tollway
Service roads: State Highway 121
Farm to Market Road 423
Education
The Colony is located inside both the Lewisville Independent School District and Little Elm Independent School District.
Lewisville ISD has built six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school inside the city limits. The elementary schools are Peters Colony Elementary, Camey Elementary, B.B. Owen Elementary, Stewart's Creek Elementary (retired 2020–2021), Ethridge Elementary, and Morningside Elementary. The two middle schools are Griffin Middle School and Lakeview Middle School.
Little Elm ISD built Prestwick STEM Academy in 2014, which serves K–8 in The Tribute subdivision, as well as Strike Middle school (opened Fall of 2020) which also serves the residents from The Tribute subdivision. Strike Middle School is named after former superintendent Dr. Lowell H. Strike who served the district for three years.
During a December 2020 meeting of the LISD Board, several changes were made, including rezoning the area and a closure of one of the elementary schools. Effective the end of the 2020–2021 school year, the LISD board voted to close Stewart's Creek Elementary. Many of the students effected by the rezoning will be attending the new school LISD is building to service the area opening for the 2021–2022 school year, dubbed by the LISD Board as Memorial Elementary – STEM Academy. There were three written-in names submitted by the community with no clear winner of the LISD Naming Survey: Sterling (The school's chosen descriptor of students), Cox (name of B.B. Owen Elementary's influential coach and teacher, and supporter of the annual Kids Chase by the Lake ), and Josey Lane (The street the school is on). LISD chose to name the school Memorial elementary instead of the submitted names because "...having a Memorial Elementary School will allow us to have the opportunity to memorialize, if you will, a number of important and influential people in the communities we serve.”
Owing to its original history as part of Frisco, The Colony is located inside the community college district of Collin College, unlike most other places in Denton County. However, since residents of The Colony do not pay taxes to said district they must pay out-of-county tuition rates to attend the college.
In May 2009, Griffin Middle School student and The Colony resident Eric Yang won the National Geographic Bee, beating out 54 other state competition champions to win a scholarship and travel package valued at more than $25,000.
The Colony High School is located just north of Texas State Highway 121 on Blair Oaks Drive.
Growth
Years of planning work by city leaders have translated into a strong pace of economic and community development in The Colony.
Nebraska Furniture Mart broke ground September 25, 2012, on a $1.5 billion, 433-acre complex along State Highway 121 between Plano Parkway and West Spring Creek Parkway. The Omaha-based furniture retailer is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. The complex is anchored by a 1.86 million-square-foot Nebraska Furniture Mart building, and includes a 600,000-square-foot showroom. The footprint for Nebraska Furniture Mart of Texas, which opened in May 2015, is equivalent to 40 football fields and sits on approximately 90 acres. It is a part of the largest retail and entertainment destination of its kind in North America. Nebraska Furniture Mart is expected to attract over 8 million visitors and generate $600 million in sales annually.
Nebraska Furniture Mart is part of a larger, 433-acre development known as Grandscape. Grandscape, a 3.9 million-square-foot mixed-use project designed by Merriman Anderson Architects, is expected to draw high-end retail, entertainment, hotels and office space, as well as tourist attractions. High-profile tenants already joining Grandscape include Scheels All Sports and Lava Cantina.
Infrastructure projects in The Colony include the Main Street/FM 423 Widening Project by the Texas Department of Transportation, encompassing over 10 miles of construction in three cities. Improvements in The Colony involved widening four miles of Main Street from Stewarts Creek Road to State Highway 121, which concluded in the last quarter of 2017. Widening of Plano Parkway has also been completed, expanding the road from four lanes to six lanes. The Memorial-Spring Creek Connector linking Memorial Drive in The Colony to SH 121 in Plano via a railroad underpass was finished in May 2015. In addition, a new overpass has been constructed to carry South Colony Boulevard over the Sam Rayburn Tollway (SH121) using a first-in-Texas design known as a diverging diamond interchange.
While The Colony is growing, prime space is plentiful with more than to develop including State Highway 121 frontage. Mixed use centers include The Cascades at The Colony; a 100-acre master-planned community consisting of 280 residences, flex office space, three hotels, and four restaurants. Another mixed use center is Austin Ranch, located west of the Dallas North Tollway and south of State Highway 121, that has prime sites for corporate campuses, commercial offices, industrial distribution parks, retail strip centers, pad sites, multi-family and single-family homes.
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 United States census, there were 44,534 people, 17,401 households, and 10,957 families residing in the city.
2017
As of 2017 there were 41,388 people. The racial makeup of the city was 74.6% White, 11.2% African American, 5.3% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 5.1% from other races, and 3.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.2% of the population.
The median income for a household in the city was $76,613, and the median income for a family was $87,353. Males had a median income of $52,494 versus $46,864 for females. The per capita income for the city was $38,732. About 4.4% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.
As of the census of 2010, there were 36,328 people, 13,168 households, and 9,472 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,256.4 people per square mile. There were 14,052 housing units at an average density of 872.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 75.4% White, 8.1% African American, 5.8% Asian, 0.8% Native American, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 6.20% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.2% of the population.
There were 13,168 households, out of which 41.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a single householder with no spouse present, and 28.1% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.25.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 9% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.1 years. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.
There were a total of 14,052 housing units, of which 884 (6.3%) were vacant. There were 9,022 or 68.5% owner-occupied housing units and 4,146 or 31.5% renter-occupied housing units.
