Historic Midlothian, known as “the Southern Star of the Dallas/Fort Worth Area,” is located 25 miles south of Dallas and Fort Worth. Home of the Midlothian Higher Education Center with Navarro College, Texas A & M University-Commerce, Tarleton State University and the University of North Texas at Dallas, there is always an opportunity to learn.
Midlothian offers many year-round events, including a weekly farmers market, which is held in the historic downtown district each Saturday, June through October 12. Fall Festival, the Annual Quilt Show and Holiday Light Up Christmas Parade are also featured events in Midlothian.
The city’s historic downtown, featuring unique shops and fabulous “Mom & Pop” restaurants are definitely worth the trip to Midlothian, which brings fun, friendly people and outdoor activities together.
Things to do in Midlothian TX
Midlothian, TX is located southwest of Dallas with several attractions and activities to enjoy. Here are some of the top things to do:
- Visit the Midlothian Heritage Museum – a museum that showcases the history of the city and the surrounding area with exhibits, artifacts, and interactive displays.
- Go hiking or biking at the Mockingbird Nature Park – a nature park that features several miles of hiking and biking trails, a playground, and a pavilion.
- Play a round of golf at the Pecan Trails Golf Course – a public golf course that features a challenging 18-hole course, a driving range, and a pro shop.
- Explore the Old Town Historic District – a downtown area that features historic buildings, antique shops, and restaurants.
- Enjoy outdoor activities at the Hawkins Spring Park – a park that features a lake, a fishing pier, picnic areas, and a walking trail.
- Go shopping at the Midlothian Market Place – a shopping center that has a variety of stores and restaurants.
- Attend a show or concert at the Midlothian Conference Center – a conference center that hosts a variety of events, including concerts, conferences, and weddings.
- Visit the Midlothian Community Park – a park that features a splash pad, a playground, a basketball court, and a walking trail.
- Take a scenic drive on the Midlothian Parkway – a parkway that offers scenic views of the city and the surrounding countryside.
- Attend the Midlothian Fall Festival – an annual festival that features live music, food vendors, carnival games, and a parade.
About Midlothian
Among the highest in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Midlothian’s quality of life is unparalleled in our area. The slower pace lifestyle is a big advantage. People live in Midlothian to escape the stress and fast pace of city living without being too far away from Dallas and Fort Worth. More than one-third of the residential homes have been built since 1990, with re-sale prices ranging from the $60s to the $90s. New home prices range from $90s to the $500s. The average household income is estimated to be more than $57,000. Residents enjoy an excellent school system and plentiful and diverse shopping opportunities, and easy access to outdoor recreation areas and cultural and social events in Dallas and Fort Worth. City management is highly qualified and the city is financially stable, with bond ratings of BAA1 from Moody’s Investor Services.
Acclaimed full-service medical facilities are located only 20 minutes from Midlothian. These include Baylor Medical Center in Waxahachie and Charlton Methodist Hospital in Dallas. Local healthcare facilities include Ellis County Diagnostic and Midlothian Medical Clinic. A variety of dental services are also available.
Situated just south of Joe Pool Lake, one of the most popular lakes in the Metroplex, Midlothian boasts proximity to a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities for all ages.
Six lakes, three state parks, and six golf courses are all within minutes of Midlothian. Nearby Arlington offers many entertainment opportunities, from Six Flags Over Texas to the Ballpark in Arlington – Home of the Texas Rangers, just to name a few. Additionally, we offer residents use of a new athletic complex, multiple city parks with playgrounds, greenbelts and picnic areas, various facilities for social organizations or recreational gatherings, and meeting facilities.
History
Midlothian is on U.S. Highway 287 and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railways nine miles northwest of Waxahachie in northwest Ellis County. Settlers arrived in the area as early as 1800, but colonization did not occur until peace treaties between the Republic of Texas and the Indian inhabitants were finalized by Sam Houston in 1843. The William Alden Hawkins and Larkin Newton families were the first to obtain permanent land titles at the site, under the authority of the Peters colony in 1848. The locale became known as Hawkins’ Springs after a spring on Hawkins’s property. The community’s first school, church, and community hall was a log cabin with an earthen floor. As better materials became available, more permanent buildings were constructed. A post office called Barker, probably after Charles Barker, was established in 1877. The name was changed to Midlothian in 1882 or 1883. Most accounts agree that a Scottish train engineer suggested the name after a location in his home country. The community was selected by the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway to be a part of its proposed line. Tracks reached the area in 1883, and by 1884 Midlothian had two churches, a district school, and a newspaper, the Midlothian News. The population was 300. Midlothian was incorporated in April 1888.
By 1892 the population had grown to between 600 and 800. At least twenty-five businesses made up the business district, including two cotton gins, two general stores, a drugstore, a hardware and farm implement store, a livery stable, a lumberyard, a saddle and harness shop, a millinery shop, a confectionery, a furniture store, three groceries, a hotel, a bakery, a barbershop, a blacksmith and wagon repair shop, and a weekly newspaper called the Visitor. The Polytechnic Academy (later Institute), a private boarding school, offered a full curriculum with an emphasis on the fine arts. It carried the names of Whitten Institute and Midlothian College before being consolidated into the public school system in 1903. A Texas historical marker is on the site in Kimmel Park. By 1896 Midlothian had a population of 1,000 and sixty-two businesses, including the Argus newspaper. The Midlothian Oil Mill and Gin, founded in 1898, was a three-press mill. At its peak, it was a fourteen-gin operation.
Before 1929 and the Great Depression many businesses flourished. Some enjoyed substantial trade that included foreign markets. In the 1980s Midlothian, which called itself the “Cement Capital of Texas,” had major industries, including producers of Portland cement and steel. Midlothian also serves as a distribution center for foreign imports. The population rose gradually from 1,175 in the early 1950s to 5,087 in the 1980s, when the city had 120 businesses. Beginning in the mid-1970s Midlothian saw an influx of residents from Dallas and Fort Worth, who built homes on unused farmland outside of town. Midlothian proper was left unchanged, but the school district expanded to 20,000 students. In 1990 the population was 5,141.