By This Denton County Town is Named After Dish Network
Texas is full of cities named after different places – from Athens to Italy, and all the way to Palestine. However, the town that I visited recently wasn’t named after a country or even a U.S. state- rather it carries the name of a satellite TV provider. Welcome to DISH, TX. Yep, that’s right, in all caps.
I first heard about DISH as I was browsing around on Wikipedia. On a page listing the different municipalities making up the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the unique name caught my eye right away. Upon doing some Googling, I learned about the interesting story of this tiny town. Located about 16 miles to the southwest of Denton, it was originally known as Clark. In 2005, this community of less than 400 voted to rename their town in an agreement with Dish Network. In return, all residents received ten years of free basic service, a satellite dish, and a DVR.
Upon arriving in this town of only 1.6 square miles, I noticed the number of relatively new homes there. Given that there are many new developments in the nearby town of Justin, it didn’t come off as much of a surprise.
One thing I wanted to see was how many homes still had Dish Network satellites, since the agreement had expired in 2015. As ironic as it sounds, I saw many more DirecTV dishes! Maybe that would have been different had Dish Network continued to give at least some sort of discount to these residents. Perhaps it was just the quality of service. Really can’t say either way.
In many of these ranch-style houses, the backyard area was fairly large. I’m sure the residents wouldn’t be complaining of being crowded here! All this space made it look like a relaxing place to live and enjoy life.
However, this town has had its share of problems. On the other side of the neighborhood were natural gas drilling sites. DISH sits in the Barnett Shale, a huge source of natural gas spanning seventeen counties. Some residents have reported health problems as a result of the chemicals emitted from production. Other folks, like town founder L.E. Clark, say that there are no issues. “There is a sniffer checking air quality. The pump is located 1800 feet from my house, and if anybody would be breathing it, it would be me. I have had no problems.”
Just down the road from the natural gas sites was the town hall. A small single-story metal building, it is only staffed for less than 3 hours a day, four days a week. A satellite dish was erected in the lawn close to the roadway – a landmark of sorts.
An equally tiny park sat right behind the town hall. The playground equipment looked to be surprisingly modern and well-equipped for such a small community like this.
Another neighborhood, this one considerably older and consisting of mobile homes, was located right across the street. Unlike the stereotypical trailer park most people have a mental image of, this neighborhood wasn’t cramped at all, and there was plenty of space in between units.
Having been to many of the small towns on the outskirts of the Metroplex, I enjoyed this mini trip to this very unique, yet relatively unknown little community. If you find yourself driving by DISH, pop in and check out it out- regardless of which satellite TV company you prefer!
