Richardson

Richardson is a city in the Dallas area of North Texas, United States, lying mostly in Dallas County with its northern part in Collin County. Its stretch of telecommunications companies along Central Expressway is known as the Telecom Corridor.

The town grew around a station of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad and was named after Alfred S. Richardson, the secretary of the railroad. Cotton farms surrounded it for decades, and residents chose a mayor and incorporated the town in 1925. Collins Radio opened an office in Richardson in the 1950s, and Central Expressway brought new homes and shopping centers. The University of Texas at Dallas grew in the 1960s from a research center founded by the leaders of Texas Instruments, and it lies within the city limits.

Lennox International, based in Richardson, makes furnaces and air conditioners for homes and buildings. Fossil Group designs the watches and leather goods sold under its name from its head office in the city, and id Software, the developer of the Doom and Quake games, works from Richardson too. Vent-A-Hood, also based here, makes kitchen range hoods.

The Eisemann Center for Performing Arts hosts concerts, theater and touring shows in the center of the city. The Cottonwood Art Festival fills Cottonwood Park with painters, potters and jewelers each spring and fall. Chinese and Indian cultural groups of North Texas have many of their offices in Richardson, and the Indian Association of North Texas is based in the city. Breckinridge Park, on the northeast side, has trails, sports fields and a lake.