Flower Mound Texas, how it all began in 1970

The 1950’s and 60’s marked the transition of the town from a rural community to an upscale suburban community for Flower Mound. Edward Marcus (then Chairman of Neiman Marcus department store) played a major part in guiding Flower Mound’s growth.

During this period, Marcus entertained the rich and famous at his 4,000 acre cattle ranch named Black Mark Farm in Flower Mound. When Neiman Marcus clients traveled to Dallas, they expected a real taste of Texas. A short drive from Neiman Marcus in Downtown Dallas to Flower Mound provided what visitors expected– a working ranch, real cowboys, horses and lots of cattle.

Neiman Marcus held extravagant yearly Fortnight Celebration Parties in Flower Mound, starting in 1957. The first Neiman’s Fortnight made the cover of Time Magazine and was named “Dallas in Wonderland”. Neiman’s Downtown Dallas store was decorated for the French Fortnight theme. Fashion icons Coco Channel and Elizabeth Arden attended the first Fortnight Party in Flower Mound. Barbeque and beans were on the menu; but not to the liking of Coco Channel. She scraped her plate off under the table, right onto the red slippers of Elizabeth Arden. It was unintentional, supposedly.

Marcus enjoyed his ranch getaway in Flower Mound, but saw the growth coming. He often talked with guests about his vision for what Flower Mound would become– a beautiful planned community with fine parks, trees and walking trails. It would be a place where nice homes, schools, churches and businesses would co-exist in a planned and complementary setting.

In the early 1960’s, an uninvited form of growth threatened Flower Mound, forcing its residents to incorporate as a town. The City of Irving attempted to grow its boundaries by annexing land through Denton County. Flower Mound lay right in the path. The attempted land grab became known as “The Denton County Land War.”

Marcus, Bruton Orand, and other large landowners agreed to finance a lawsuit against Irving, if local residents would take up the fight.

Bob Rheudasil, “Doc” Wilkerson, Ray Skillern, and others were more than willing to organize residents for the fight. Flower Mound won the landmark lawsuit and Irving’s subsequent appeal.

The town incorporated after the lower court ruling in 1961 and Bob Rheudasil was elected the town’s first mayor. Not everyone embraced creating a town, but it was necessary to stop future land grabs. Flower Mound took control of its own destiny.

The first Town Secretary was Bob’s wife, Pat Rheudasil. She was dubbed the “Mother of Flower Mound” having organized the town’s beginning without any resources or prior experience. As the town’s only employee for many years, she worked without a salary or even an office and handled everything from reading water meters to balancing the financial books. Bob always said, “No one did more for Flower Mound than Pat.”

In 1968, the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the New Town Program to spur new ideas for urban planning, encourage self-sufficient communities, advance home building design and help control urban sprawl across America.

Marcus seized the opportunity to make his vision for Flower Mound come true. He applied to be one of HUD’s New Town projects, naming it Flower Mound New Town (FMNT). HUD approved and made the first phase loan guarantee commitment of $18 million in December 1970. FMNT consumed all of his land, as well as all the land he could buy or option for annexation. The project eventually consumed him as well.The population of Flower Mound was 1,685 in 1970. Construction began on the new town in 1972, but federal red tape, the 1973–75 economic recession, slow land sales, changing federal policy, and the relative isolation of the site brought failure of the project, despite an additional HUD grant of $170,000. In the spring of 1974 Nasher sold out to Marcus, who in turn sold his half interest to Tinnie Mercantile Company, owned by Robert Anderson, chairman of Atlantic-Richfield. By September 1976, with other new towns failing and Flower Mound experiencing financial difficulty, HUD foreclosed on its model Texas experiment in public-private cooperation. The development, which by then numbered 300 persons and 100 homes, subsequently attracted builders and was renamed Timber Creek Community. In 1980 the town's population was 4,402. In 1990 Flower Mound reported a population of 15,527, and by 2000 the population had risen to 50,702.

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