The History
of Town Creek
Almost all of the land that is now Town Creek, Forest Meadow (to the north) and Moss Farm (to the south) was in the possession of a pioneer settler from Kentucky by the name of James M. Houx (1822-1850). James purchased the land in 1849 but died the next year. His son Nicholas (age 2) was adopted by Judge John S. & Hannah Thomas. Judge Thomas was the first County Judge in Dallas County and assisted his young adopted son Nicholas to receive a 640 acre land grant in the name of the “Heirs of James M. Houx, Deceased” from the State of Texas in 1855. The original 306 acres is the area that is now Moss Farm. The larger grant of 640 acres adjoined the 306 acres and it included almost all of the area that is now Town Creek and Forest Meadow. Nicholas lived on and farmed the land, but began to sell parcels in 1883. Nicholas and his wife continued to live on the land until his death in 1890.
Then William Whitesides Sebastian purchased the remainder of the 640 acres of land. He is considered to be a Dallas County pioneer. Sebastian served as a captain in the Civil War and moved to Dallas County with his family in 1872. Sebastian lived on the land, cultivated cotton on it, and used it for raising Herford and Holstein cattle.
The land was further subdivided after the time of Sebastian. The Houston & Texas Central Railroad had come through the area in 1873, and in the 20th century, the land became more and more part of the growing city of Dallas. In the early 20th century small parcels were utilized as suburban farms where people who worked in Dallas could maintain a semblance of rural life. In the 1940’s Harry S. Moss purchased the land that later became known as Moss Farm and the land that is now Harry S. Moss Park.
The Town Creek neighborhood and surrounding area was primarily rural until the 1960s. In 1967 the Dallas Cowboy’s moved their training facility nearby property. It was located on the north side of Forest Lane, west of Abrams Road (close to where Walmart is now) until 1985 when they moved to Valley Ranch. In the same year the Cowboy’s moved into the area, residential development began in the neighborhoods now known as Forest Meadow and Town Creek. Coincidence? Probably not. The first plats in the area were identified as Forest Meadow. Some were located east of Abrams Road in the area that is now described as Town Creek and some in the area now known as Moss Farm. It was not until 1972 that plats were registered in a subdivision identified as Town Creek. In the early ‘70s, those subdivisions extended only a few streets south of Whitehurst Road. It was during this time that Richardson ISD built and opened Forest Meadow Junior High and Skyview Elementary.
For more information on the history of Town Creek, Forest Meadow and Moss Farm neighborhoods, check out these videos produced by Ted A. Campbell, a resident of Forest Meadow, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=98&v=ADbY8cAr5_o (Part 1) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M_E1Rd_xe8 (Part 2).
