Local city information for Cedar Hill, TX

Cedar Hill is a city in Dallas and Ellis Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It lies sixteen miles from downtown Dallas and is adjoined by Joe Pool Lake and Cedar Hill State Park to its west.

Early in its history, Cedar Hill served as the temporary county seat of Dallas County and lay along a branch of the Chisholm Trail. In 1856 a tornado swept through the town killing nine people and destroying most of its buildings. The seat of the county was moved to Dallas not long after.

Cedar Hill is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, and Lancaster.

Cedar Hill is located at (32.588454, -96.947325). Adjacent cities are: Grand Prairie to the southwest, west, and northwest; Dallas to the north; Duncanville to the north and northeast; DeSoto to the northeast and east; Glenn Heights and Ovilla to the southeast; and Midlothian to the south. Most of the city of Cedar Hill is in Dallas County, but a small southern section of the city spills over into Ellis County.The tiny settlement of Cedar Hill was established about 1848. The town square became the hub of local government, business and social activities. In 1852 the first postmaster was chosen and by the 1850’s several businesses were located in and north of what is now the Downtown Cedar Hill Historic District. They called the area Cedar Hill due to the nearby cedar breaks in the Mountain Creek area. The land they chose was between 860-870 feet above sea level. The altitude blessed the settlers with cooler temperatures than some of the nearby communities. Cedar Hill is located on part of the White Rock Escarpment that runs from Austin to the Red River, which also lies near the old Chisholm Trail.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.2 square miles (91.3 km²), of which, 35.2 square miles (91.0 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.26%) is water.

Because of its elevation many local radio and TV stations have their antennas located there. It has the highest concentration of such antennas in the country. Pulse-Doppler weather radar equipment for tracking tornadoes are also attached to these steel antennas that reach several thousand feet into the air and whose blinking lights appear like Christmas trees at night.Cedar Hill sits atop the highest point between the Red River and the Gulf of Mexico which makes way for Cedar Hill’s trademark TV and radio towers that can be seen from miles around. There are 36 square miles of emerald green cedar trees, rolling hills and a quality of life that is hard to beat. You will find easy access to museums, libraries, higher education, many churches and civic organizations.

It is sometimes referred to as the "hill country of Dallas" (in comparison to the "hill country" surrounding Austin and San Antonio). The city is full of native, eastern red cedar evergreen trees and stands at an elevation of about above sea level--the highest point in a straight line from the Red River at the Texas-Oklahoma border to the Gulf Coast.

Cedar Hill was founded by 3 prominent families in 1848. The Penn Family and The Hinze Family are two of those families who decided to settle in the Northern "hills" of Texas in 1848. One prominent family that is still involved with many aspects of the city of Cedar Hill is the Fred Hintze family. Their large farm encompassed what is now the Joe Poole Lake area. The farm was a focal point of the city and is now underwater when Joe Poole Lake was developed. The tiny settlement of Cedar Hill was established about 1848. The town square became the hub of local government, business and social activities. In 1852 the first postmaster was chosen and by the 1850’s several businesses were located in and north of what is now the Downtown Cedar Hill Historic District. They called the area Cedar Hill due to the nearby cedar breaks in the Mountain Creek area. The land they chose was between 860-870 feet above sea level. The altitude blessed the settlers with cooler temperatures than some of the nearby communities. Cedar Hill is located on part of the White Rock Escarpment that runs from Austin to the Red River, which also lies near the old Chisholm Trail.

In the 1840’s Cedar Hill was appointed the Temporary County Seat of Dallas County until a somewhat controversial second election between the towns of Hords Ridge (Oak Cliff) and Dallas could be held to determine the permanent location of the County Seat. The outcome of the election named Dallas as the County Seat of Dallas County. The election was held before any court proceedings took place in the temporary County Seat. Thus, no county records exist in Cedar Hill.

April 29, 1856 the thriving hilltop settlement of Cedar Hill was all but swept away by a wrathful tornado. It claimed at least nine lives and according to reports demolished all but two buildings. The tornado was so powerful that many articles were found 20 to 30 miles away.

A link with the Chisholm Trail from Corsicana to Fort Worth wandered through Cedar Hill in the 1860’s on its way to connect with the main trail. This path led great herds to the cattle markets. Travelers and Indians, as well as freighters with great loaded wagons drawn by oxen, also used the trail. Cedar Hill also served as a commercial center for surrounding farmers, with direct rail access to Dallas and Houston. In the early 1900s, passenger trains stopped daily on their way between these two major Texas cities.

The Hintze family settlers, the Penn family settlers, and a few other First Families, like the Hintze and Penn families, were instrumental in organizing a festival named the Old Settlers Reunion. This festival is now called the Country Day festival. This festival was started in 1937 by a small group of Cedar Hill citizens as well as the three founding families who came togetheer to renew old friendships. A few years later it came under the supervision of the Cedar Hill Volunteer Fire Dept. As time went on, the event grew and many former citizens of the area returned home for a few short hours each to renew their friendships and tell stories about the changing landscape. In later years it was taken over by the Chamber of Commerce and now is under the supervision of a group of concerned citizens known as The Friends of Country Day, Inc. In early 2000, Country Day on the Hill was incorporated in a need to reinforce the already strong structure of the nonprofit organization. It has grown in the last few years to crowds estimated between 8,000 and 10,000 visitors on the streets of our Historic Downtown Cedar Hill, Texas, and is an annual fall festival event of which Cedar Hill is very proud of. It is sponsored by the Country Day Committee, City of Cedar Hill, generous businesses and private citizens. The annual fair is held on the second Saturday each October

The "Austin chalk" limestone uplift on which most of Cedar Hill is spread is covered with "gumbo"-cleche-clay topsoil from a few inches to many feet. The western edge of the city, primarily the Lake Ridge neighborhood, falls below the limestone uplift on the Eagle Ford shale strata surrounding Joe Pool Lake. Home foundation problems--similar to those in Irving's Las Colinas neighborhood to the north and built on the same strata--await those who fail to take precautions in building on expansive soil lying over the Eagle Ford formation. As noted in the demographics below (and like some of the cities immediately surrounding it such as Duncanville and DeSoto), the city is significantly diverse compared to other cities around Dallas which tend to be predominantly of one ethnic origin or another. In the last few years, the city has been booming with new construction as urban sprawl spreads south of Dallas.

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