Editing Coppell, Texas (section)

==History==
[[File:George Coppell.jpg|thumb|left|125px|George Coppell]]
The Coppell area was settled by German and French immigrants in the 1840s. Members of the [[Peters Colony]] also settled here in the 1840s.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.stoppingpoints.com/texas/sights.cgi?marker=Bethel+Cemetery&cnty=dallas
|title=Bethel Cemetery
|author=Texas Historical Commission - Historical Marker
|publisher=Stoppingpoints.com
|access-date=April 23, 2015
}}</ref> Originally named Gibbs Station, after [[Barnett Gibbs]] (one of Texas's first lieutenant governors), the town was renamed in 1892 for George Coppell, a New York banker, who was born in [[Liverpool]], England and probably moved to the United States circa 1859. He was reportedly heavily involved with the final construction of the local railroad line. Popular belief is that he was an engineer, but little or no evidence supports that claim.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Wheelice (Pete) Jr. |title=Information about Coppell's Probable Namesake, George Coppell |url=http://www.coppellhistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/2/3/5/123514922/george_coppell_summary_document_-_by_pete_wilson.pdf |website=coppellhistoricalsociety.org |access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref>

In 1955, the community was incorporated through a ballot measure that passed by a vote of 41 to 1. Spurred by the opening of [[Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport]] (DFW Airport) in 1974, the city was radically transformed from a tiny farming village to a large, upper-middle class suburban community in the 1980s and 1990s. By 2000, almost all of the residentially zoned land in the city was developed, and the population grew to over 35,000. In addition to suburban homes, the city has a growing commercial base of warehouses and transportation centers on the south and west sides of the city, closest in proximity to the airport.