RICHARDSON

city, northern suburb of Dallas, Dallas and Collin counties, northern Texas, U.S. The original founders settled Breckenridge township (c. 1853) south of the present city limits in what is now Restland. In 1872 Ryley and Jack Wheeler gave land for a townsite and right-of-way to the Houston and Texas Central Railway, and the town was laid out and named for George Richardson, then president of the railroad. Most of the business area was rebuilt in the early 1890s after a destructive fire. Completion of the Red Brick Road (later Greenville Highway) to Dallas in 1924 brought a quick increase in population. Richardson was incorporated the following year and adopted a city charter in 1956. Although mainly residential, the city has developed into a research centre, including the Sun Oil Company Laboratory and the W.L. Clayton Research Center (foods); manufactures include electronic equipment. Pop. (1990) 74,840.