hay, vegetables and livestock helped keep county
residents in business in the mid-20th century.
Bankhead Highway, completed in the 1920’s
provided a thoroughfare from the DFW metroplex
to points such as Mineral Wells, and what is
now the community of Willow Park sprung up
along the route, featuring a roadside park with
willow trees and a pond. The park but eventually
demolished when Interstate 20 was built, but the
name stuck.
Willow Park would incorporate in 1963; Aledo
would incorporate in 1964; Hudson Oaks in
1978; and the Annettas in 1979. Many employees
who worked for companies in Fort Worth and
beyond moved to the area for good schools and
the slower-paced rural lifestyle. Subdivisions began
popping up in former cow pastures, a golf course
was added in Willow Park, and churches and
businesses began to grow. n
Sources:
Kay Davis, Texas State Historical Association,
Parker County Historical Commission
HISTORICAL POPULATION
CENSUS POP. %±
1860 4,213 —
1870 4,186 −0.6%
1880 15,870 279.1%
1890 21,682 36.6%
1900 25,823 19.1%
1910 26,331 2.0%
1920 23,382 −11.2%
1930 18,759 −19.8%
1940 20,482 9.2%
1950 21,528 5.1%
1960 22,880 6.3%
1970 33,888 48.1%
1980 44,609 31.6%
1990 64,785 45.2%
2000 88,495 36.6%
2010 116,927 32.1%
Est. 2016 129,441 10.7%
U.S. Decennial Census10
1850–201011 2010–20141
www.EastParkerChamber.com 105