Marshall Creek was a town in
Denton
County
, Texas
, United States
with a population of 431 at the 2000
census.
History
Original residents began moving into the small area in the late
1960s, attracted to inexpensive country living. The town had no
formal government until it was incorporated in 1983 to prevent
possible annexation by neighboring cities which would bring higher
tax rates and more strict regulations.
The town took the name
of a nearby park operated by the United States Army Corps of
Engineers. Originally designed as an affordable location
to purchase land for a manufactured (or
mobile) homes, the
area has few site-built structures.
In late November 2007, Marshall Creek
merged with neighboring Roanoke, Texas
.
Politics
Incorporated as a general law municipality in 1983, Marshall Creek
has remained, by virtue of its small borders, relatively out of the
public spotlight. However, internal strife has caused the town to
become unstable. According to published reports, bookkeeping by the
government was spotty, resulting in losses from unpaid property
taxes the town failed to assess. In 1996, the government fell
behind in payments to the
Trinity River Authority, which
removes and treats sewage for the town.
More
recently, after the September 11
attacks on the United
States, the small town with its equivalently small police
force lost a sizable contract to patrol nearby Marshall Creek
Park. Instead, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded that
contract to nearby Trophy Club
, which had a larger and more experienced
force. In addition, in 2002, police officers who had written
traffic tickets for the city on nearby US Highway 377 were revealed
to have expired peace officer certifications, thus rendering those
citations invalid. The town was forced to repay approximately
US$4,300 in traffic fines.
As a result of the loss of income from the Corps of Engineers
contract as well as poor records management and having virtually no
other revenue source than property taxes and traffic citations, the
town filed for
bankruptcy under Chapter 9
of the
Bankruptcy Code in January
2006.
The town's last mayor prior to consolidation was James
Macy-Simpson.
Consolidation
As part of
the May 12, 2007, general election, Marshall Creek voters were
asked if they wished to consolidate with the nearby town of
Roanoke. This
proposition was approved by a vote of 72-18. Roanoke voters decided
on November 6, 2007 to consolidate Marshall Creek into Roanoke by
an 83% margin of victory. Roanoke canvassed the election on
November 19, 2007 and the merger became official.
Geography
Marshall Creek is located at (33.017727, -97.208625) .
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.6
km² (0.2
mi²), all
land.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 431
people, 153 households, and 108 families residing in the town. The
population density was 723.5/km²
(1,864.5/mi²). There were 167 housing units at an average density
of 280.3/km² (722.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.66%
White, 0.23%
Native American, 3.25% from
other races, and 1.86%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 14.39% of the
population.
There were 153 households out of which 31.4% had children under the
age of 18 living with them, 52.3% were
married
couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no
husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 19.6% of all
households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living
alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size
was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the town the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age
of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to
64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
34 years. For every 100 females there were 108.2 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $30,114, and the
median income for a family was $30,938. Males had a median income
of $25,893 versus $23,250 for females. The
per capita income for the town was
$13,972. About 13.8% of families and 15.6% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 23.8%
of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.
Education
Marshall Creek is served by the
Northwest Independent
School District.
References
- Ladson, LaKisha. Union Valley incorporates to prevent being
annexed, The Dallas Morning News,
2007-11-23.
Accessed 2007-12-18.
External links
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