156 years of history
Founders Day is exactly that: We're celebrating the founding of Rockwall in 1854.
The area that is now Rockwall was occupied in the early 1800s by the Caddo and Creek Indian tribes. When the first Anglo settlers reached the area in the 1840s, they found the two tribes at war.
The National Road of the Republic of Texas was built through the area in the mid-1840s, and the new community was founded along this road.
Rockwall takes its name from an underground formation discovered by Terry Wade in 1852. Wade was digging a well near what is now the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market when he discovered the wall-like formation.
No one has ever determined if the wall is man-made or if it's a natural formation.
Rockwall was officially platted as a community by Elijah Elgin on April 17, 1854, when he purchased a 40-acre tract from W.B. Bowles.
The area that became Rockwall was a small part of the 572-acre homestead of Benjamin F. Boydstun.
The Founders Day Festival was born when Rockwall celebrated its sesquicentennial with a huge festival headlined by the Little River Band on Saturday April 17, 2004.
The Festival became an annual event when it moved to the historic downtown square in 2005.