A short history of Royse City
Garrett Burgess Griffin Royse, better known as Byrd Royse, was born in Adair County, Kentucky, on January 31, 1838, to William and Mary Stone Royse. He was the seventh of 14 children. Circa 1850, Royse's future grandmother-in-law, Mrs. Nancy McCasland, and her sons bought several tracts of land that were later to become known as Royse City.
Royse was instrumental in getting the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway line brought from Greenville to Dallas through Rockwall County. Royse City was settled in 1885, when the railway came through the area. The town was named after G. B. Royse, who plotted the town and sold the first lots.
After its founding, Royse City preserved its stable, small, country-town status due to its proximity to Garland (21 miles away) and Dallas (33 miles).
In 2000, Royse City had a population of 2,957. Still a small town, Royse City was feeling the impacts of the rapid growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, along with Rockwall County. The city's location along Interstate 30 between Rockwall and Greenville helped to fuel this growth.
Royse City has grown rapidly to the north and south as newer subdivisions have been built. By 2010, Royse City had a population of 9,349, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This represents a growth rate of 216.2%.
Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Royse City, Texas, revision 1377400820 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.