Southlake, TX
Before and after I left town, Southlake was known for one thing: high school football dominance. In all my time being associated with the school, they’ve lost less than a dozen football games in nearly twenty years. Photo by TommyBoy74
Southlake is located in north Texas. These days, it is most-famous for their Carroll Dragons, perennial contenders for the mythical national high-school football championship.
Yet when my family relocated there in 1989, it was more important for its more subtle qualities. Back then, it was a still a modest community sandwiched between more significant cities of Ft. Worth, Denton, and Dallas. To eat takeout, shop for groceries, or catch a movie, you had to drive miles to nearby Grapevine or Keller, as Southlake had none of those opportunities.
But what Southlake had then that today’s era of strip malls and mall-sized schools have watered down was a tight sense of family. When I graduated high school, I was lucky enough to participate in a senior class so small–137 members–that I can still name most everyone that walked across the stage with me. The population density was so low that rolling acres of green space stood between every homestead.
It was a great place to call home during a time in my life when I sometimes wished I wasn’t alive.
Some stories set in Southlake, TX include: