Marshall Creek, Texas

Marshall Creek was a town in Denton County, Texas, United States with a population of 431 at the 2000 census.HistoryOriginal residents began moving into the small area in the late 1960s, attracted to inexpensive country living. The town had no formal government until it was incorporated in 1983 to prevent possible annexation by neighboring cities which would bring higher tax rates and more strict regulations. The town took the name of a nearby park operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Originally designed as an affordable location to purchase land for a manufactured (or mobile) homes, the area has few site-built structures. In late November 2007, Marshall Creek consolidated with neighboring Roanoke, Texas.PoliticsIncorporated as a general law municipality in 1983, Marshall Creek has remained, by virtue of its small borders, relatively out of the public spotlight. However, internal strife has caused the town to become unstable. According to published reports, bookkeeping by the government was spotty, resulting in losses from unpaid property taxes the town failed to assess. In 1996, the government fell behind in payments to the Trinity River Authority, which removes and treats sewage for the town.More recently, after the September 11 attacks on the United States, the small town, with its equivalently small police force, lost a sizable contract to patrol nearby Marshall Creek Park. Instead, the Army Corps of Engineers awarded that contract to nearby Trophy Club, which had a larger and more experienced force. In addition, in 2002, police officers who had written traffic tickets for the city on nearby US Highway 377 were revealed to have expired peace officer certifications, thus rendering those citations invalid. The town was forced to repay approximately US$4,300 in traffic fines.