A Brief History of Whiffletree V, Vl, Vll
It all started in 1979. News of the Legacy Park Campus development created a mindset in developers and builders that set the tone for the development of land north of Spring Creek Parkway. After Ross Perot announced his acquisition of land ln 1979 with the intent to develop a world class office campus environment, Frito-Lay announced that they would move to the new campus. Frito-Lay broke ground in 1982 and EDS broke ground ln November of 1984. They would move into their new headquarters in 1985. ln 1987 JC Pen ny announced it would move its headquarters to Plano as well. The first homes were occupied in Whiffletree in late 1985 and early 1986. Whiffletree was developed by some of the finest custom builders in the area. The intent was to build executive high-end homes on large lots. These homes would be well suited for executives moving to the rapidly growing area. The 1980 census showed Plano to have about 79,000 residents but the city was growing at a pace that would equal any community in the country. Also in 1985 DART began lts flrst suburban service to Plano. ln 1 986, the city would change the name of the east/west corridor known as Carpenter Drive to Legacy Drive. Whiffletree began to develop rapidly and in 1987/88 Mathews Elementary opened its doors. Also that year, Southland Life announced it would move its headquarters to Legacy. But that development quickly came to a halt in 1988. Commerce Bank of Plano became the first bank to fail in the city. lt would be followed by First Republic Bank Corp. Others would soon follow as the Oil bust and S&L crisis hit the area. Plano's unemployment would grow to 7o26. New construction in Whiffletree slowed to a crawl as money for new construction all but evaporated. ' ln spite of the economic issues, Plano's population in 1 990 swells to 1 28,000. This was a 780,6 increase over 1 980. Building in Whiffletree began to recover and most of the builders that started in the neighborhood were able to survive. Custom homes began to pop up again in the early 1990's. Most streets in the neighborhood were well on their way to development by 1993. Homes on Langley, Lantz, Caravan and Lavery were some of the last to be built. By the early 2000s almost all of the lots were built out. Because of the quality of the homes built in Whiffletree as well as the fairly wide timeline of development, Whiffletree V, Vl, Vll remains a unique and exclusive neighborhood. The presence of Mathews Elementary, Prairie Meadow Park, and the Davis Library make Whiffletree one of the most sought after neighborhoods in Plano. Add to it, the existence of infrastructure around the community and it is no wonder that Whiffletree maintains a position as one of Plano's best neighborhoods.
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