Celina is a small town 32 minutes north of Plano, Texas, located about equidistant between downtown Dallas and the Oklahoma border. It’s one of the fastest growing suburbs with beautiful new homes with lots of land.
Historic buildings like the old Nelson railroad hotel and the First State Bank haven’t changed much in the last 100 years. Just over the hill toward Dallas, it’s easy to spot earth movers plowing up thousands of acres of farmland to make way for new residential rooftops. During the last year, developers have announced plans for a half dozen major new home communities in Celina. Even more are on the way. For those people looking for affordable new housing, Celina certainly is an alternative. A new home in Celina’s communities can be almost $100,000 less than a comparable house to the south in Frisco.
Interesting Facts:
- More than 20,000 new home building lots are in the pipeline for 2016 and 2017.
- Current population of about 11,000
- The Celina High School football team is one of the most successful programs in Texas
- The median income for a household in the town was $37,383, and the median income for a family was $41,131
HISTORY
Celina, in the Northwest corner of Collin County, was not established until 1876, but settlers came in the area at a much earlier date. In October, 1879 a little settlement began to form a few miles southwest of the present day Celina. John T. Mulkey, Celina’s first postmaster, renamed the town after Celina, Tennessee. The Methodist Church was built in 1880, and also doubled as the school for awhile. By 1885, a general store, mill, and a drug store had been opened in “Old Celina”.
About 20 years later, considerable excitement was caused by the new, that the Frisco railway was soon to extend it’s line through this part of the country. However, the right of way was to miss the little town. Shortly thereafter, the merchants of the town made plans to move the town to the railroad. When the time came to move, the businesses and houses were each placed on rollers and pulled to the new site by traction engines. This was done in February 1902. A Town site company has secured the land for the new “Celina”, which was part of a pasture belonging to the late William Willock. The company had taken the fences down, marked off the streets, and placed the lots for sale. It was intended that the current Main Street would be the Main Street of the town so it was made wider than the other streets and the price of the lots were higher. Because of the higher price, the merchants began locating north of Main Street and west of the railroad. A row of wooden buildings was formed facing the railroad. In 1907, the town was officially incorporated with Will Newsom serving as the first mayor.
SCHOOLS
Celina is served by two award-winning school districts, Celina ISD and Prosper ISD. Most of the residents are zoned for Celina ISD while the southern portions are zoned for Prosper ISD. Both districts have graduating high school seniors ranking among the highest in University Interscholastic League competition and have strong academic and athletic programs.
CISD is a 3A district that boasts a designation of “Exemplary” by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). CISD offers an extensive honors and advanced placement curriculum, the District offers a gifted and talented program for all grade levels and the option of graduating with a Distinguished Achievement diploma.
Prosper ISD is a 3A district with a proven commitment to academic excellence. The district offers a top-notch curriculum, a low student-teacher ratio and quality educators. (Courtesy Celina Chamber of Commerce)