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Historic Timeline
The City of Fate is one of the fastest-growing communities in all of DFW. From a population of just over 600 in the year 2000, Fate's population is estimated to be over 12,000 as of January 1, 2017. The recently adopted Comprehensive Plan shows the City of Fate growing to over 50,000 at build-out. Check out the amazing app below to see satellite images of Fate over the last several decades.
The collection of dates below show both events that occurred in Fate’s local history as well as national and worldwide events. These were placed on the list as an indicator of how certain events may have affected the local history.
Date | Event |
---|---|
1713 | Texas Land Grants Begin |
August 1, 1831 | Dr. Wiley Turner Barnes is Born in Alabama |
January 3, 1835 | George Washington Lafayette “Fate” Peyton is Born in Tennessee |
December 29, 1845 | The Republic of Texas joins the United States of America |
1860s | William Lafayette Brown and GW Lafayette Peyton - two influential gentlemen nicknamed “Fate” lived in the area, for which the town was named after. |
April 12, 1861 | Civil War Begins |
December 24, 1864 | Dr. Wiley Turner Barnes purchased 320 acres from Mark Crabtree, the original land grantee and named the area the town of Barnes. The current downtown location. |
April 9, 1865 | Civil War Ends |
1876 | Matthes “Massey” Zollner and his wife, Elizabeth, established a ranch near Fate, Rockwall County. |
July 13, 1880 | Fate Post Office is Established in the town of Fate located one-and-a-half miles to the north of its current location on Farm to Market Road 552. |
December 27, 1880 | Joseph H. Kirby appointed as Fate Postmaster |
November 23, 1881 | C. Jouett appointed as Fate Postmaster |
January 19, 1882 | Napolean B. Jouett appointed as Fate Postmaster |
1886 | The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad constructed a line to run through Barnes |
October 25, 1886 | Calvin Davidson appointed as Fate Postmaster |
December 1886 | William Lafayette “Fate” Brown moved to Rockwall to become the sheriff of Rockwall County |
February 11, 1887 | The town of Barnes and Fate Combine. Barnes takes the name Fate. |
Mid 1880 | Fate’s population is 100 people |
1890’s | Fate business prospered |
November 1892 | William Lafayette “Fate” Brown steps down as Sheriff. |
1893 | William Lafayette “Fate” Brown becomes the Rockwall Post Master |
1894 | Presbyterians build the first church in Fate |
April 5, 1894 | Robert J. Lowry appointed as Fate Postmaster |
December 3, 1896 | Fate Masonic Lodge No. 802 formed by J.B. Young as the first Worshipful Master and 23 members. The members we mostly merchants and farmers. |
1897 | William Lafayette “Fate” Brown Steps down as the Rockwall Postmaster |
October 20, 1897 | Calvin B. Davidson appointed Fate Postmaster |
1898 | Baptist church met in the schoolhouse. |
August 1, 1899 | Fate became the first town in Texas to have a rural mail route. |
1900 | Fate population 500 |
September 27, 1900 | City of Fate Incorporates |
September 2, 1901 | Rural mail route was redesignated as Route 3 |
December 31, 1901 | Dr. Wiley Turner Barnes dies. |
1902 | Methodist and Christian churches were built |
August 31, 1903 | William Lafayette “Fate” Brown dies. |
November 28, 1905 | Cornelius W. Lowry appointed as Fate Postmaster |
December 31, 1906 | Fire engulfed the south side of the Fate business district |
1907 – 1910 | Fate Baseball is all the rage. |
1910 | Fire destroyed the north side of town |
1911 | Two story brick Fate School is built for $13,000. The building serves all grades up to 11th. |
July 28, 1914 | World War I begins |
1914 | High demand for cotton during World War I. Texas exported approximately 85 percent of the total crop. |
January 15, 1915 | Leila Price appointed as Fate Postmaster |
September 1, 1915 | George Washington Lafayette “Fate” Peyton dies. |
1917 | United States enter World War I |
November 11, 1918 | World War I Ended |
1918 - 1919 | Worldwide H1N1 influenza pandemic (Spanish flu) - It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States. |
1920’s | Decline in cotton production due to federal government’s control program. The drop-in prices after the war led many tenants and sharecroppers to abandon farming altogether and move to the cities for better job opportunities. |
1920’s | A branch of the coast-to-coast Bankhead National Highway came through Fate on Highway 67 |
1920 | Dorothy Smith Pullen formed a sewing club as a form of entertainment. |
March 6, 1924 | Hilbert Cauble appointed as Fate Postmaster |
1926 | Presbyterians built a new church and it still stands in downtown today. |
July 18, 1926 | Mrs. Leila Price appointed as Fate Postmaster |
December 31, 1926 | Mrs. Leila C. Coleman appointed as Fate Postmaster |
August 1929 | The Great Depression begins |
July 30, 1929 | Fire destroys four local businesses - $27,000 in damage |
1930 | Fate’s populations falls to 194 |
1930 | Circle Ten Council Boy Scout Troop No. 201 was formed by Scout Master W. T. Estes |
1931 | Gilbert Hogg takes office as the Tax Assessor of Rockwall County |
1933 | Four churches combine into Fate Community Church in the newest building, the First Presbyterian Church. |
March 1933 | End the Great Depression |
July 4, 1933 | Tornado devastates Fate |
1934 | Gilbert Hogg’s offices of Tax Assessor/Collector combine to include Sheriff. |
1941 | United States entered World War II |
1941 | Farmworkers moved again to the cities for work in war-related industries. |
1942 | Gilbert Hogg was appointed an agent with the Texas Liquor Control Board and dies. |
1949 | Fate School Closes due to lack of enrollment |
July 1. 1949 | Maggie Burton appointed as Fate Postmaster |
1950 - 1957 | CW Holt served as Mayor of Fate |
1950 | Fate Population 150 |
1950 | Fate loses all mail routes |
1950 | Railroad depot is sold to the Dallas Old City Park |
June 25, 1950 | Korean War |
July 31, 1950 | James L. Cannon appointed as Fate Postmaster |
1953 | Fate Community Center is built. The Fate Masonic Lodge No. 802 owns the second floor. |
August 1957 | Interstate 30 opened as a toll road (tolls ended in (1957) |
1957 – 1990 | WE Crawford served as Mayor of Fate |
1958 | North Texas Municipal Water District admitted Fate into its district. |
August 16, 1959 | The installation of water lines by residents was complete. Running water was now available in homes. |
1960-1962 | Youth Baseball League is played in park |
January 6, 1961 | Laura L. Crawford is appointed as Fate Postmaster |
March 8, 1965 | United States enters Vietnam War |
1969 | Mayor WE Crawford requested sewer lines in Austin. A grant was given to accomplish the task. |
1970 | City Council began to dream of expansion with a neighborhood called Woodcreek |
1971 | Construction of Lake Ray Hubbard |
1971 | Centex home builders purchased 1700 acres of land to build a “model city” |
March 29, 1973 | Last U.S. combat troops leave South Vietnam. |
1975 | Centex developer gave the city of Fate a fire truck. |
1979 | Sanitary sewer lines installed |
1980’s | Police and telephone companies adopted the 911-system requiring streets to be named and houses to be numbered. |
1984 | Fate purchases its first tractor |
1986 | Streets in Fate were paved |
1988 | First garbage collection contract was signed |
1990 | Fate Population 475 |
1990 – 1992 | Mary Rolfe served as Mayor of Fate |
August 2, 1990 | The Gulf War begins |
1990 | Fate Girls created a museum of historic memorabilia in City Hall |
February 28, 1991 | The Gulf War ends |
1992 – 1994 | Rick Tolbert served as Mayor of Fate |
November 16, 1993 | Downtown Fate post office closes doors (Currently Rockwall Electric) |
November 17, 1993 | New post office opens along SH 66 |
1994 – 2000 | Gerry Boren served as Mayor of Fate |
2000 | Fate Population 497 |
2000 – February 3, 2003 | George Melendez served as Mayor of Fate. |
March 2001 | City Manager Gerry Boren Hired |
September 11, 2001 | Four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States |
2002 | Subdivisions began to be built. Fate population 1,145 |
2003 | The suburban sprawl began a population boom and within one year the city saw a 51% increase to 2,030. |
February 2003 – May 2003 | Mayor Pro-Tem Linda Tolbert served as Mayor of Fate |
2003 – 2008 | David Hill served as Mayor of Fate |
2004 | Woodcreek Water Tower is built |
2005 | First 200 homes built in Woodcreek |
August 2007 | City Manager Gerry Boren Resigned |
2007 – 2009 | The Great Recession, or the economic downturn after the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble and the global financial crisis. |
November 2008 | Established Home Rule Charter |
2008 - 2014 | Bill Broderick served as Mayor of Fate |
November 10, 2008 | City Manager Vicki Mikel Hired |
2008 | The four denominations of churches that worshiped in harmony separate. |
2010 | Fate population 6,357 |
February 7, 2012 | City Manager Vicki Mikel passes away |
June 2012 | City Manager Philip Rodriguez hired |
September 2013 | City Manager Philip Rodriguez resigned |
October 2013 | Established a Fate Department of Public Safety |
2014- 2019 | Lorne Megyesi served as Mayor of Fate |
2014 | Purchase of the ladder fire truck |
April 2014 | City Manager Michael Kovacs hired |
September 2015 | Demolition of Farm-to-Market 551 bridge over Interstate 30. |
2016 | Water Tower Completed in Williamsburg |
February 2017 | Demolition of Farm-to-Market 3549 bridge over Interstate 30. |
March 2017 | Completion of Farm-to-Market 551 bridge over Interstate 30. |
2017 | Fate purchases land in downtown for redevelopment purposes. |
March 2018 | FItness Court in Robert Smith Family Park opens |
July 2018 | New Farm-to-Market 3549 bridge opens |
2018 | Fate purchase land for a community park in southern section of the city |
2018 | Fate purchase land to expand downtown park |
2019 | Fate population 17,500 |
May 2019 | Joe Burger was elected as Mayor of Fate |
August 2019 | Robert Smith Family Park receives splash pad, benches, shade structures and lights on the basketball court |
March 2020 | Coronavirus COVID-19 World pandemic |
Spring 2020 | Villages at Fate three story mixed-use building completed |
January 2021 | Mayor Joe Burger Resigns honorably |
February 2021 | Winter storm Uri freezes North Texas |
March 2021 | Mayor David Billings - fills the unexpired term of Mayor |
May 2021 | Mayor David Billings was elected as Mayor of Fate |
July 2021 | Former Mayor Joe Burger passes away |
July 2021 | $15 million General Obligation Road Bond issued for Fate road projects |
2022 | Fate population 23,000 |
March 2022 | Fresh by Brookshire's Grand Opening |
November 2022 | Joe Burger Park Ribbon Cutting Ceremony |