Mesquite is a city in Dallas and Kaufman Counties in the U.S. state of Texas and a suburb of Dallas. The city had a total population of 124,523 in the 2000 census which increased to 136,750 in the 2007 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. It is also the location of Microsoft’s repair center for its products (Zune, Xbox 360, etc).
The city was founded 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 through the late 19th century and early 20th century as a farming community growing cotton, hay, corn and sugar and using the railroad to ship raw goods. The town remained predominantly agrarian until after World War II when the suburban boom also took root in Mesquite. The city’s population rapidly grew 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. The mall’s associated traffic and shops would continue to grow the town. By the 1990 census, the city 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 new home for the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. By 1998, the facility was expanded to include a Convention Center, Exhibition Hall and a Hampton Inn & Suites.
