Overview
The Colony is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States. The
population was 26,531 at the 2000 census. 2005 population estimates put the
city closer to 33,000 people.
The Colony is home to the 5 Star Athletic Complex, which was completed in
2003. The Colony was named the Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary Sports
Town in that same year. The city is home to Pizza Inn's corporate
headquarters, as well as an Edward Don distribution center and a variety of
small and medium-sized businesses.
Located on the southeast side of the city, across State Highway 121 from
most of the city, is Austin Ranch, a mixed-use development consisting of
retail businesses, apartments and condominiums.
History
The site of The Colony is located inside the original Peters Colony lands,
on the site of the Hedgcoxe War.
The city of The Colony did not exist before 1969, when home developers Fox
and Jacobs (owned by Centex) purchased most of the land located around State
Highway 121 and Farm-to-Market Road 423. They planned the development of a
new "dream city" modeled after the city of Dallas, consisting primarily of
single family homes grouped as a "colony". The homes were served by a
municipal utility district formed to bring water, electricity (via Texas
Power and Light), cable television (via Lakeside CATV) and telephone service
(via Southwestern Bell).
In 1976, one of the original homeowners associations petitioned the city of
Frisco, Texas to remove the area from its extra-territorial jurisdiction. A
vote was held in January 1977, and the City of The Colony was officially
incorporated at that time (the name Colony was already in use, and thus the
current name with the definitive article was chosen).
Politics
The Colony is considered a Home Rule municipality with the council-manager
form of government. It has a six-member council, with two members elected at
large, as well as a city Mayor.
Relations with Frisco, Texas
Since its incorporation, The Colony has had an uneasy association with its
nearby neighbor, Frisco.
Both cities were part of a lawsuit in the early 1980s contesting the
validity of a Texas law allowing so-called strip annexations of land,
whereby a city incorporates tiny slivers of land reaching other, larger
areas. Frisco annexed the majority of land to the north and east of The
Colony, cutting off the smaller city's future growth prospects. Another
notable lawsuit by The Colony against Frisco and the North Texas Municipal
Water District concerns Frisco not allowing The Colony access to its
right-of-way so The Colony could use a jointly-owned wastewater treatment
plant.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
40.8 km² (15.7 mi²). 35.4 km² (13.7 mi²) of it is land and 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²)
of it (13.15%) is water.
The city is bordered on the west by Lewisville Lake and Lewisville, Texas,
on the north and east by Frisco, Texas and on the south by Carrollton, Texas
and Plano, Texas. Approximately 23 miles of shoreline on Lake Lewisville are
contained within the city's boundaries (the basis for the city's motto "City
by the Lake"), including two peninsulas.
Major Highways
* Texas 121
* Farm to Market 423
Education
All of The Colony is located inside the Lewisville Independent School
District which has built six elementary schools, two middle schools and one
high school inside city limits. The elementary schools are Peters Colony
Elementary, Camey Elementary, B.B. Owen Elementary, Stewart's Creek
Elementary, Ethridge Elementary, and Morningside Elementary. The two middle
schools are Griffin Middle School and Lakeview Middle School. The Colony
High School is located just north of SH 121 on Blair Oaks Drive and is known
as "the home of the Cougars." The Lady Cougars soccer team won the 2007
Class AAAA soccer championship, the school's first in any sport. The Colony
is home to the TopCats Drill Team, as well as a marching band that
participated in the 1997 Tournament of Roses Parade. The Colony High School
also has a football team, as do most high schools in Texas.
Owing to its original history as part of Frisco, The Colony is located
inside the Collin County Community College District, unlike all 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 Collin
County Community College.
Future growth
Large areas of undeveloped land remain inside The Colony, and are in the
process of being developed by their owners. In the near future, a marina is
due to be developed by MarineQuest Corporation at the city's Hidden Cove
Park, and two residential/mixed-use developments are planned along State
Highway 121 and on Wynnwood Peninsula on Lewisville Lake. The completion of
the conversion of Highway 121 from a four-lane highway to a six-lane tollway
is expected to bring additional business to the city's main transportation
corridor.
In spite of the potential for growth, a high property tax rate and current
development heavily balanced towards residential ownership present
continuing challenges for The Colony. In addition, the city faces steep
competition from not only Frisco, but from the cities of Lewisville,
Carrollton and Plano, who have annexed most of the remaining vacant land
around The Colony.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 26,531 people, 8,462 households, and
7,141 families residing in the city. The population density was 749.9/km²
(1,942.1/mi²). There were 8,812 housing units at an average density of
249.1/km² (645.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.46% White, 5.18%
African American, 0.71% Native American, 1.68% Asian, 0.05% Pacific
Islander, 5.30% from other races, and 2.62% from two or more races. Hispanic
or Latino of any race were 13.26% of the population.
There were 8,462 households out of which 53.7% had children under the age of
18 living with them, 69.7% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 15.6% were non-families.
11.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 1.8% had someone
living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
was 3.14 and the average family size was 3.41.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.0% under the age of 18,
7.4% from 18 to 24, 38.0% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 2.9% who
were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100
females there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there
were 97.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $64,080, and the median
income for a family was $66,203. Males had a median income of $44,208 versus
$30,530 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,903. About
1.6% of families and 2.8% of the population were below the poverty line,
including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.