MIDLOTHIAN MEANS HISTORY

In 1883, the name “Midlothian” was accepted by the local population. According to local legend, the area was named Midlothian when the Chicago, Texas, and Mexican Central railroads, which eventually connected Dallas and Cleburne, arrived in the area and a homesick Scottish train engineer stated that the local countryside reminded him of his homeland in Scotland.

The locations served as the mid-point between Dallas and Cleburne and between Ennis and Fort Worth. Railroad 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.

Ten years later, the population had more than doubled to 600-800 citizens. At least 25 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 emphasis in 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.

After World War II, Midlothian began to take advantage of resources underneath the fertile soil. The city rests near the highest elevation in Ellis County atop the Austin Escarpment, a thin chalk ridge that runs in a northeast to southwest direction through Midlothian. The Austin Escarpment represents a 600-year potential limestone reserve.

In 1959, the first cement plant was established in Midlothian, Texas Industries, Inc. (TXI). By 1967, TXI became the largest cement plant in Texas when they grew to meet demands during the construction of DFW Regional Airport. Success in Midlothian grew with two more cement plants joining the community and the addition of a steel manufacturer in 1970. 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. Though Midlothian proper was left essentially unchanged, the school district expanded to 20,000 students.