Spotted: a dirty secret lurking between the city of Richardson and Buckingham, the tiny town-that-was. Looks like things didn’t use to be so friendly.
Buckingham, which is bordered by Abrams, Centennial, Audelia and Park Bend, was its own incorporated town for about 50 years before it was annexed by Richardson in 1996. Its time as an island city was rife with disputes. Think of the Buckingham-Richardson relationship as the Texas-Union one, when our state fought against incorporation into the United States. The underdog fought back, though eventually it lost. Richardson knew to hit the town where it hurt most, providing juicy talk for a municipal version of “Gossip Girl.”Â
Water:Â By the 1950s, Richardson had set its sights on annexing Buckingham. In an effort to pressure Buckingham residents, Richardson threatened to shut off their water. Buckingham residents secured a court injunction to stop this temporarily while they formed a water district and built their own artesian well, as Dallas Life Magazine reports.
Trash:Â Richardson, which did not want Buckingham to become wet, challenged the town’s 1984 vote on allowing the sale of liquor. Though Richardson threatened to stop collecting the garbage, Buckingham voted 55-27 to go wet, mostly out of spite, according to some residents. They contracted their own trash collectors, according to Dallas Life Magazine.
Animals:Â Buckingham settlers in the 1950s loved their animals. A 1995 Dallas Morning News article reports that the town was originally founded to avoid Richardson’s ban on horses. Before a 1955 election on incorporation, some residents argued Richardson would zone all the animals out of Buckingham if they won control. The town voted 55-19 against annexation.
