Mesquite, Texas

Everything Mesquite is known for

5 songs mention this city 2 artists from here

Music in Mesquite

Songs About Mesquite

Life of a Rodeo Cowboy
Merle Haggard
52%
"And there's a rodeo down in Mesquite"
Santa And My Semi
Dale Watson
51%
"I saw Santa jackknife up around Mesquite"
Hey Daisy
Drew Womack
50%
"Till they light in Mesquite right in front of our eyes"
Texas Love Song
Slaid Cleaves
8%
"Or you can throw me out in the old mesquite"
White Knuckle Heart
Red Shahan
5%
"Fear of the [?] that smells of Mesquite"

Artists From Mesquite

C
Craig Wayne Boyd
country Pop: 44
J
Johnny Cole Murdock
country Pop: 1

Rivers & Roads in Song near Mesquite

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Mesquite.

Interstate 20 10 songs Trinity River 8 songs Interstate 45 2 songs Sabine River 10 songs Texas State Highway 199 8 songs

History of Mesquite

The Lady of the Lake RoadyGoat

White Rock Lake, in east Dallas, was dammed back in nineteen-ten, and the tree-lined loop around it — Lawther Drive — is where Dallas's oldest ghost story keeps getting told. Late at night, drivers say, a young woman in a soaked white nineteen-thirties evening gown flags them down by the water, dripping wet, and asks for a ride to a home address. By the time they arrive she's gone from the back seat, leaving only a wet spot — and whoever lives there tells them she drowned in the lake years ago. It's a textbook 'vanishing hitchhiker,' first written down for the Texas Folklore Society in nineteen-forty-three and later made famous by Dallas newspaperman Frank X. Tolbert — a tale with no verified drowned girl behind it, told now for eighty years.

8.5 mi away

Dallas, TX RoadyGoat

Dallas, situated within the Blackland Prairies of North Texas, owes its early growth to its strategic location. The area, relatively flat at 430 feet above sea level, became a central hub for distributing cotton grown in the fertile black soil. Later, oil further fueled its expansion. Named in 1845 for Vice President George Mifflin Dallas, the city incorporated just over a decade later and evolved into a center for professional and business services. Today, Dallas balances its ambitious spirit with a touch of Southern hospitality. The Dallas Arts District stands as a testament to its cultural aspirations, while the Dallas Cowboys, "America's Team," embody the city's passion. The city is a place where big dreams take root.

11.5 mi away

Dallas, TX RoadyGoat

Dallas, situated in the Blackland Prairies of North Texas, owes its character to a blend of influences. Initially a trading post, its location within the fertile cotton belt drew settlers from the American South, their language and traditions shaping early Dallas culture. The city's later rise as a distribution hub for oil further diversified its population. Though distinct Southern speech patterns have largely faded into a more generalized Texas accent, traces of that heritage persist in the city's hospitality. The modern city reflects a striving spirit, a place where big dreams are pursued against the backdrop of Texas's open sky.

11.5 mi away

Sam Bass Train Robbery

1878

Sam Bass -- with Seab Barnes, Hank Underwood, "Arkansas" Johnson, and Frank Jackson -- held up a Texas & Pacific train here, April 10, 1878. They took $152, but missed hidden shipment of $30,000. In planning a bank robbery 3 months later, Bass was fatally shot by rangers.

Historical Marker →

Kimbrough, Robert Snead

1874

Robert Snead Kimbrough, the "town father" of Mesquite, teacher, farmer, businessman, and Texas state legislator, son of Jacob C. and Martha Ann (Snead) Kimbrough, was born in Monroe County, Tennessee, on September 19, 1851. He was one of five children. Jacob Kimbrough joined the First Regiment of the Confederate Tennessee Calvary at the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. He held the rank of private until he surrendered in May 1865. After the war, he continued working as a farmer in Monroe County. Robert Snead Kimbrough grew up on his father's farm near Madisonville, Monroe County. During the Civil War, the farm was located near contested ground between Federal and Confederate troops, where Kimbrough and his family witnessed the harsh realities of war. Although the area's education system lacked organization and resources, Kimbrough managed to obtain an early education. By 1873 he had relocated to Arkansas where he worked as a schoolteacher. In 1874 Kimbrough took the Texas and Pacific Railway to Mesquite, Texas, and arrived "with only a few dollars in his pockets." He briefly taught school there before moving to Linden, Texas, where he again taught school before returning to Tennessee in 1875. He moved back to Texas in 1876, this time to Clay County, where he spent eighteen months improving a farm and building a house near what became the town of Postoak. By 1878 he had sold these for sufficient profit to enable him to return to Mesquite and establish a general mercantile business. Kimbrough participated actively in the Mesquite community. He was a founder of the First Presbyterian Church of Mesquite, established in 1881. He also helped promote business and trade within the area through his mercantile pursuits. He bought plots of land near Mesquite in order to start a farm and cultivate goods. He owned one of the first cotton gins in the area and also founded a local newspaper, the Little Mesquiter (later the Texas Mesquiter ) in 1882. Although he initially edited the newspaper, he resigned that position a year later to focus on his general store business and farm. After a dispute with J. L. Thomas, an agent of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, over freight bills and an ensuing, critical editorial in his newspaper, Kimbrough was involved in a fist fight with Thomas that turned into a shoot-out. Both men were grazed by bullets in the scrape and were subsequently arrested. Nonetheless, Kimbrough's business affairs prospered, and by 1883 he was paying taxes on more than 120 acres of land (worth more than $3,000) in and around Mesquite, plus another three thousand dollars' worth of merchandise. In December 1885 he sold his newspaper to J. M. Knox of the local Farmers' Alliance to focus on his other business interests. Kimbrough was also involved in politics during this time. In 1880 he was chosen as a delegate to attend the Dallas County Democratic convention, where he supported the renomination of Governor Oran M. Roberts . In 1882 Kimbrough served on the Dallas County Democratic Executive Committee and was a delegate to Democratic conventions at the county, congressional district, and senatorial district levels. At the senatorial convention, he was also the second assistant secretary to the committee on permanent organization. After Kimbrough announced his candidacy for the legislature in 1884, Dallas newspapers acknowledged his broad popularity and projected that he would have solid support from Dallas city voters. Calling himself "an old school Democrat," he endorsed the incumbent governor John Ireland and denounced protection tariffs and a state law that allowed cattlemen to graze their herds on public lands for free. In the November 1884 election, in which the top two vote earners won seats in the state House of Representatives, Kimbrough won more than 1,000 votes more than his colleague Zachariah E. Coombs. Kimbrough represented House District 33 and was sworn in on January 13, 1885, at the start of the Nineteenth legislatur

Tsha Handbook →

Officer Richard Houston II Memorial Highway

2021

Honors Mesquite PD Officer Richard Houston II, 21-year MPD veteran, killed December 3, 2021, responding to a domestic disturbance in an Albertsons parking lot on Belt Line Rd. Honorary segment on I-635 between LaPrada Dr and Cartwright/Bruton Rd.

Historical Marker →

Site of Galloway Farmstead

1872

Confederate veteran Benjamin Franklin Galloway (1833-1912) And his wife Eliza (Fletcher) (1852-1883) came to Texas from Tennessee in 1872. Their son Bedford Forest is said to have been born in a covered wagon at Duck Creek (Garland) in 1873. They purchased 101 acres in 1874 and Benjamin Galloway erected a cabin where they lived while a two-room house was built. A farmer, he also raised horses, mules and cattle. A second son, Nathan Lemmon, was born in 1876. Twin sons were born in 1883, but they lived only a day, and Eliza Galloway died soon after. Her niece, Clara Gentry, came to live with the family that year. At that time Benjamin had a Blackland Prairie hay company. Dallas clients included Tennessee Dairy, Caruth Farm and Ringling Brothers Circus. Benjamin Galloway married Amanda Jane Miller (1848-1938) of Tennessee in 1887 and built a 1½ story addition onto the home place. The structure eventually featured an entrance hall, bedroom, parlor, and a kitchen on the first level, with children's rooms upstairs. A son was born in 1888, but died at birth. Bedford returned home after attending college in Waco and New Orleans and made his living farming, baling hay and ginning cotton. He and his first wife, Nannie Lawrence, had four children. After her death in 1915, he married Bertha Dakan in 1917 and they had two daughters. Bedford was a city alderman, a member of the school board, and served as mayor of Mesquite from 1927 to 1940. A Galloway descendant restored the house between 1949 and 1950 and built another addition in 1955. Designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1973, the Galloway Home Place was moved from this site to a more rural location in Sunnyvale in an effort to protect it from encroaching urban development. (2000)

Historical Marker →

Florence Ranch Homestead

1871

Florence Ranch Homestead, located at 1424 Barnes Bridge Road in Mesquite in Dallas County, was founded in 1871 by David Walker Florence and Julia Savannah (Beaty) Florence. The son of John Hicks and Martha (Walker) Florence, David was born on October 28, 1848, in St. Clair County, Alabama. Eight-year-old David, along with his parents and extended families, migrated from Alabama to Texas in 1856 and eventually settled in Van Zandt County. David Florence married Julia Savannah Beaty on December 29, 1866, in Van Zandt County. Beginning in 1871 Florence bought land in eastern Dallas County. He made an initial purchase of 207 ½ acres from the estate of Caroline Lyons in the William Little Survey in January 1871 for $2,075. Florence began the construction of their farmhouse while Julia planted from seeds a bois d'arc hedgerow around the homestead. A few of these trees have survived into the twenty-first century. The homestead was complete by September 6, 1872, when their daughter Martha was born. Regarded as one of the most successful stock farmers in Dallas County, Florence increased his Mesquite farm to 730 acres by 1892. At this time 300 acres were in cultivation, and the rest of the acreage was used for prairie hay production and pasture. To diversify his holdings, Florence and his son John Hicks Florence patented 1,280 acres in Taylor County in 1890. In 1894 they purchased 1,000 acres near Cedar Hill in Dallas County. Florence dedicated part of his property for a school which in 1946 was incorporated into the Grand Prairie School District. The school and surrounding community were known as Florence Hill. The last remaining part of the ranch owned by a Florence granddaughter was taken by eminent domain for the construction of Joe Pool Lake in the late 1970s. David and Julia Florence retired from their farming interests by 1909. In 1913 they purchased several lots in the Duff addition north of the Mesquite town square and built a Victorian-style home where they remained the rest of their lives. The Florences were instrumental in the development of Mesquite since before its founding as a small railroad town in 1873 and were active members of the community. Julia Florence died on March 1, 1914. David married Mattie (Parker) Bennett, widow of William J. Bennett in 1920. David Walker Florence died on December 7, 1932, and was buried beside Julia in the Florence family plot in Mesquite Cemetery. The Florence homestead was passed to the Florences' son Emet David Florence, who was born in the homeplace on November 20, 1885. On December 23, 1906, Emet married Perle Curtis, the daughter of Robert and Elzora (Porter) Curtis. Their daughter Florence was born at the homeplace on October 22, 1909. As a young husband and father, Emet already had performed much of the ranching duties, and in 1909 he acquired the original family homestead from his parents. In 1911, by purchasing more parcels of land, his farm increased to more than 600 contiguous acres. After completing a course in animal husbandry at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Texas A&M University) in 1906, Florence implemented new objectives for farming efficiency and introduced purebred livestock. At this time the Florence Ranch was known as Meadow View Farm, and he adopted the Terrapin brand for his stock. Florence's 320-acre native meadow was part of the rich Blackland Prairie area north and west of Mesquite, and Emet Florence became a prime producer of high quality prairie hay. More than 100 acres were dedicated for planting feed crops-oats and corn-for Florence's stock. He raised Hampshire Down sheep. He also bred purebred Shorthorn and Hereford cattle . In later years, many students of Future Farmers of America bought calves and lambs from him for school projects. Meadow View Farm became well-known for its Percheron horses. Heavily imported from France by the turn of the twentieth century, this sturdy breed was prized for its ability to draw the heaviest farm e

Tsha Handbook →

Masten, William K.

1862

William K. Masten, Methodist Church circuit preacher, mercantile business owner, and Confederate cavalry officer, was born in Ohio in 1821. He married Isabella M. Robinson in Bond County, Illinois, on November 15, 1842, and the couple moved to Dallas County, Texas, soon after. In 1850, while working as a teacher in Dallas, Masten was admitted into the East Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. He was a circuit rider for the Tyler area and in 1857 settled in Mesquite where he led the first congregation of the Methodist Church. Masten also served as county clerk from 1856 to 1860. Masten Street in Dallas is named after him. In March 1862 Masten joined the Fifteenth Texas Cavalry and was elected captain of Company C. On May 10, 1862, he was elected lieutenant colonel. The Fifteenth was dismounted in the fall of 1862 and served as infantry for the remainder of the war. On January 11, 1863, their post, Fort Hindman in Arkansas, fell to the Union Army. Many of the captured soldiers were paroled and returned to battle with the Sixth and Tenth Texas infantries fighting in Tennessee and Georgia. After the war, Masten moved back to Dallas where he served as county clerk from 1865 to 1866 and then district clerk from 1866 to 1867. Sometime after 1870, the family left Texas and settled in California where William Masten died and is buried.

Tsha Handbook →

Things to Do in Mesquite

historical 12.2 mi away
Dealey Plaza

On November 22 1963 President John F Kennedy rode through Dealey Plaza in an open Lincoln convertible and was shot from the sixth floor window of the Texas…
historical 12.2 mi away
The Sixth Floor Museum

Where Lee Harvey Oswald fired from. The JFK assassination site at Dealey Plaza.
quirky 9.4 mi away
Big Tex at the State Fair

A fifty-five-foot cowboy named Big Tex has welcomed visitors to the State Fair of Texas in Fair Park Dallas every fall since 1952. He booms howdy folks over a…
spooky 7.9 mi away
Lady of White Rock Lake

Since the 1930s drivers along White Rock Lake report picking up a soaking-wet woman in a white dress. She asks for a ride home then vanishes leaving the seat…
food 10.9 mi away
Pecan Lodge

Dallas' best BBQ. The beef rib alone is worth the drive.
historical 16.9 mi away
Southfork Ranch

The filming location of TV's Dallas. JR Ewing lived here.
quirky 19.1 mi away
Southfork Ranch

The Ewing family TV mansion from the Dallas soap opera sits on two hundred acres in Parker Texas and is open for tours every day. JRs bedroom is there. The…

Sports in Mesquite

⭐ HOMETOWN LEGENDS Class 6A · Football

Mesquite Stormy the Skeeters — Mesquite — a college & pro athletic pipeline

5 alumni who reached major-college or pro sports

Mesquite High School has a proud tradition of producing athletes who have gone on to compete at high levels. The school's athletic programs have helped many students develop the skills and determination needed for major college and professional sports. This commitment to athletic development is reflected in the achievements of its alumni.

Among the notable former Mesquite Skeeters are Mike Ford, who played quarterback for the SMU Mustangs, and Eddie Phillips, who was a quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. In professional baseball, Sean Lowe pitched for teams including the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago White Sox. Ngozi Onwumere competed as a sprinter and Olympic bobsledder for Nigeria, while Cory Remekun became an American professional basketball player.

Pro/D1 alumni
5
Class
6A
Founded
1902
Key Players
  • Mike Ford — (1977) – quarterback for the SMU Mustangs
  • Sean Lowe — (1989) – a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1997 through 2003 for t
  • Ngozi Onwumere — sprinter and Olympic bobsledder, competing for Nigeria
  • Eddie Phillips — quarterback for the Texas Longhorns
  • Cory Remekun — (2009) – an American professional basketball player
The moment

Sean Lowe was a pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Sources: Wikipedia · SI High School (ScoreBook Live)

Everything Near Mesquite

1164 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Mesquite on the Map
All music from Texas → · Browse more cities