Page 282 - BWA FEB 2013

282 | Business World Magazine | February 2013
The city of Coppell is a Dallas County com-
munity in Texas that enjoys several notable
and historic distinctions. For one, it is home
to the site of Grapevine Springs where the
legendary General Sam Houston signed an
important 1832 peace accord with a local In-
dian tribe, an event that occurred more than
20 years before the City of Dallas was even
founded. The community is further distin-
guished for its connection to an early U.S.
Senator and former Lt. Governor of Texas,
Barnett Gibbs. Out of honor and respect
for his service, the community was actually
dubbed as “Gibbs” until 1890 when prin-
cipals elected to change the town name in
recognition of George Coppell. A railroad
magnate from New York, Coppell was in-
fluential in developing what was known as
The Cotton Belt Railroad (an extension of
the St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad)
which was so fundamental to the transport
of goods, as well as people, in this area of
Texas and beyond. A relatively small and
quiet community, Coppell was incorporated
in 1955, but development really didn’t begin
to take-off until the 1970s with the open-
ing of the Dallas/Fort Worth International
Airport. Deemed as “The World’s Largest
City of Coppell Senior & Community Center
at Grapevine Springs - View of Verandah from
Northeast