Union Valley, Texas

Union Valley is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States. The city voted to incorporate in an election held on November 6, 2007. A total of 90 votes were cast (out of 173 registered voters), 75 (83.3%) in favor of incorporation and 15 (16.7%) against. According to the Union Valley incorporation committee, the city has about 78 households. The U.S. Census Bureau 2010 Census placed the population at 307.GeographyUnion Valley is located approximately five miles west of Quinlan in southwestern Hunt County. The city covers around 948acre and contains households and businesses which front Farm to Market Roads 1565 and 35. It also includes the northeast corner of FM 1565 and State Highway 276 as well as a portion of Old Quinlan Road.HistorySettlement of the area began in the 1880s. From its inception, Union Valley served area farmers as a school and church community. It was bypassed by the railroads that crisscrossed Hunt County in the late 1880s and early 1890s. This resulted in the community remaining lightly populated throughout the twentieth century.Moves to incorporate Union Valley arose in response to the rapidly growing and expanding communities to the west in neighboring Rockwall County, particularly Royse City, which grew from a population of 2,957 in 2000 to approximately 9,300 in 2007. In the past few years, the city has annexed land extending into Hunt county, and Union Valley residents felt that incorporation was the only way to prevent annexation by Royse City or any other city. Fears of higher taxes and a loss of the area's rural, close-knit feel were the main concerns raised by Union Valley residents.