The twentieth century turned Grand Prairie into an aviation town. In 1941 a great aircraft plant opened on the prairie, and through World War II it built P-51 Mustang fighters and B-24 Liberator bombers; the successor plants kept the city in the aerospace business for decades, building Cold War jets and missiles. After the war the prairie filled with subdivisions and shopping centers as the Metroplex grew around it, and in 1996 Lone Star Park opened its grandstand, bringing thoroughbred racing to the city — it hosted the Breeders' Cup in 2004. Farms to fighter planes to finish lines: the prairie kept reinventing what ran across it.
Grand Prairie keeps two kinds of speed in its memory. There is the aviation story — the Mustangs and Liberators that rolled out of the plant in the war years, and the jets that followed. And there is the racing story — the thoroughbreds and quarter horses that run at Lone Star Park, the grandstand that brought the Breeders' Cup to the prairie in 2004. Between them sits the prairie itself: the grassland that named the town, the rail line that built it, and the long, flat horizon between Dallas and Fort Worth where you can still see weather coming from miles away.
Why People Visit Grand Prairie Texas
- Spend a day at Loyd Park on Joe Pool Lake, with trails, campsites, and boating.
- Catch live thoroughbred and quarter-horse racing at Lone Star Park during the spring and fall meets.
- Walk the historic downtown around the Texas & Pacific rail depot.
- Cool off at the Epic Waters indoor waterpark, or browse the weekend stalls at Traders Village.
- Take in the prairie horizon and the lakes that frame the city north and south.
