Western shore of Eagle Mountain Lake
~1,858 residents · own city government
City · Tarrant County
Pelican Bay
Population ~1,858 · azle-isd
☕ Pelican Bay brief Mon, Jun 1
Mayor race on May 2 2026 ballot
Contested · high-stakes for ~1,858-resident city
Azle ISD coverage
Same district as Azle + Lakeside · B rating
Local News
Pelican Bay headlines
What's happening in Pelican Bay right now
🏛️ History
Olen Yandell's Sausalito on Eagle Mountain Lake
Dairy farmer Olen Yandell envisioned Pelican Bay in 1970 as a Texas version of Sausalito, California, on his Circle-Y land next to Eagle Mountain Lake. He named the 148-acre development for nearby Pelican Island. Source: TSHA Handbook of Texas; City of Pelican Bay.
Ongoing · Source: tshaonline.org
🏛️ Civic
Incorporated as a lakeside city in 1981
Pelican Bay incorporated in 1981 and remains a modest enclave with a mix of site-built and manufactured homes. Source: City of Pelican Bay.
Ongoing · Source: cityofpelicanbay.com
From across Tarrant County
🗳️ Election
Contested mayor races in nine Tarrant cities on May 2 ballot
The May 2, 2026 ballot featured contested races for mayor in nine Tarrant cities: Arlington, Euless, Keller, Kennedale, North Richland Hills, Pelican Bay, Sansom Park, Westlake, and Westover Hills. The slate also included numerous city council positions, school board trustee seats, and other municipal offices across the county. Source: NBC 5 DFW / Tarrant County Elections.
🗳️ Politics
Taylor Rehmet (D) wins Texas State Senate District 9 special election
In Tarrant County's state Senate District 9 special election held November 4, 2025, Democrat Taylor Rehmet finished as the top vote-getter, ahead by roughly 14,000 votes and a margin of nearly 15%. Rehmet replaces Republican Kelly Hancock, who left the seat in 2025 to become acting state comptroller. Rehmet completes the remainder of Hancock's term. Source: NBC 5 DFW.
Around Town
Around Town
Pelican Bay's places, people, and traditions
Landmark
Eagle Mountain Lake shoreline
Pelican Bay's identity is its waterfront. The 8,694-acre Eagle Mountain Lake, formed by a 1932 dam on the West Fork of the Trinity, defines the city's eastern edge.
Year-round
Heritage
The Circle-Y dairy roots
Before it was a lake village, Pelican Bay was a 150-head dairy farm called the Circle-Y, owned by Olen Yandell. Yandell's 1970 plat redrew his pastures into the streets of the town.
Year-round
Park
Pelican Bay Park
Small city park with playground and picnic spaces, the main civic gathering ground for a community of about 2,000 residents.
Year-round
Known for
- Eagle Mountain Lake waterfront community
- Founded 1970 as planned lake village
- Pelican Bay boat ramp
- Small-town lakeside character
The Story of Pelican Bay
Pelican Bay is one of the youngest cities in Tarrant County, and it started as one man's dream on a struggling dairy farm. In 1970 Olen Yandell owned the Circle-Y dairy north of Azle, on the shore of Eagle Mountain Lake, where his 150 cows grazed.
Yandell imagined turning the land into a Texas version of Sausalito — complete with shops, a sailing school, a riding club and a recreation center — and named his 148-acre development Pelican Bay, for nearby Pelican Island.
The resort vision never fully materialized, but the community took root. Over the objections of Fort Worth and Azle, which both eyed the area for annexation, residents voted three-to-one to incorporate on August 8, 1981, with petition leader Ruth Howard as first mayor.
Today Pelican Bay remains a small lakeside city of site-built and manufactured homes, much as it looked in its early days on Eagle Mountain Lake.
Sources: Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas; City of Pelican Bay.
🗓️ Coming this week Full calendar →
TUE
28
Birdville ISD Board of Trustees
6:30pm · agenda online
TUE
2
Tarrant County Commissioners Court
10am · agenda online
TUE
2
Fort Worth City Council
7pm · agenda online
TUE
2
Arlington City Council
6:30pm · agenda online
MON
8
Northwest ISD Board of Trustees
6:30pm · agenda online
MON
8
Keller ISD Board of Trustees
6:30pm · agenda online
MON
8
Carroll ISD Board of Trustees
5:30pm · agenda online
🎈 Kids Trading Post · Pelican Bay 1 activities →
Storytime, classes, camps, leagues, and open-play in Pelican Bay, sourced from libraries and partner orgs. Updated nightly · no manual data entry.
See all 1 kid activities →
Sports
Pelican Bay Sports (Azle ISD)
School-district athletics + city rec
ISD Athletics
Azle ISD — Hornets
Pelican Bay students participate in Azle ISD athletics. UIL classification varies by HS enrollment.
Source: Azle ISD
Community Rec
Pelican Bay parks + community programs
City Parks & Rec coordinates youth + adult community recreation programs scaled to Pelican Bay's pop.
Source: City of Pelican Bay
Cross-District
Friday-night football in the surrounding district
For HS football fans, the closest district games are in Azle ISD stadiums — typically a short drive within the Mid-Cities or NE/NW Tarrant corridor.
Source: Azle ISD
⭐ Game of the week
Carroll Dragons — district football (anchor program)
🏈 District football ·
Tarrant County's anchor programs — Carroll (8 state titles), Keller (top-of-district 5A), Mansfield (B-rated district), Arlington Martin (AISD flagship), Fossil Ridge (KISD power program) — get priority weekly coverage from the news radar. Carroll Dragons headline the off-season anchor framing; weekly schedule populates from MaxPreps DFW + each ISD's athletics site.
📜 On this day in Tarrant County sports
1988
🏈 Carroll (Southlake) Dragons claim 1st state football championship — beginning of the dynasty that would produce 8 UIL state titles. Under coach Bob Ledbetter.
1993
🏈 Carroll Dragons capture their 3rd state football title (1988, 1992, 1993 = three-in-a-row 3A run under Coach Ledbetter; QB Kris Brown led the '93 squad past Cuero).
2011
🏈 Carroll Dragons win their 8th and most recent UIL state football title — capping the program's run as Tarrant County's most successful HS football dynasty.
2018
🥎 Mansfield Tigers softball reaches UIL state semifinals — anchor moment for MISD's growing softball program under HC Gregory George's broader program leadership.
2026
🏃 Keller ISD sends 11 athletes to UIL State Track & Field — multiple medal-stand finishes per district release.
📻 Radio guide
Southlake Carroll Dragons football
KKGM 1630 AM (Fort Worth; news/sports) — exclusive radio home of Carroll football
Dragon Sports Network
Aledo Bearcats football (Tarrant-area marquee program)
KTFW-FM 92.1 'Hank FM' (LKCM Radio Group; country) — flagship for Aledo broadcasts
Aledo Sports Network
Arlington ISD football (Martin · Lamar · Bowie)
NFHS Network (streaming platform) — official AISD broadcast partner
NFHS Network
Mansfield Tigers football
NFHS Network (streaming platform) — Mansfield ISD live broadcasts
NFHS Network
Keller / Fossil Ridge (Keller ISD) football
NFHS Network (streaming platform) — Keller ISD live broadcasts
NFHS Network
Fort Worth-area HS football game of the week
KTCU-FM 88.7 'The Choice' (TCU student station, Fort Worth)
KTCU 88.7
🏆 UIL playoff bracket
No active Tarrant County UIL playoff bracket on the desk. Populates when a Tarrant County team is in a UIL playoff round (football, basketball, baseball/softball, volleyball). Source: UIL playoff records.
Activities
Things to do in Pelican Bay
Kids, library, sports, fitness, classes, camps, open play — sourced from libraries, parks, and partner orgs across Pelican Bay.
event
Pelican Bay Spring Community Event & Egg Hunt
Annual · music, food & egg hunt for kids
City of Pelican Bay · Pelican Bay Beach Park, Pelican Bay
Civic & Government
Civic & Government
Pelican Bay city hall, schools, and county connection
Government
Type A general-law city
Pelican Bay has a mayor and five aldermen. The city was incorporated in 1981.
Schools
Served by Azle ISD
Pelican Bay students attend Azle Independent School District, which spans Azle, Lakeside, Reno and Sanctuary.
County
Tarrant County (judge Tim O'Hare)
Pelican Bay sits in Tarrant County. Commissioners Court meets at 100 E. Weatherford St., Fort Worth. Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare; sheriff Bill Waybourn.
Reach the right desk
By the Numbers
By the Numbers
Pop
~1,858 residents
Between Lakeside + Lake Worth in size among small lake-area cities of western Tarrant. Pop scale shapes everything from budget to size of ballot in contested municipal election.
2026 · Source: Wikipedia
Schools
Azle ISD B rating
Public school students attend Azle ISD carrying B rating. Reflects district overall academic + growth performance — one of most concrete public-facing indicators of school quality.
2026 · Source: Azle ISD
Ballot
One ballot, one mayor seat
On May 2 2026, voters face contested mayor race — mayor seat as headline contest. In city under 2,000, margin in such race can come down to a few dozen votes — why local races draw outsized attention.
May 2 2026 · Source: Project brief
Population
1,858
Type
city
School District
azle-isd
Ask the Desk
Questions about Pelican Bay
What are Tarrant County's 2025 property tax rates?
Tarrant County (general portion): ~$0.19 per $100. City of Fort Worth: $1.0624. City of Arlington: $1.0929 (down ~1¢ from 2024). Combined rates from Fort Worth ISD + City of Fort Worth + Tarrant County College bring the total for most Fort …
Who is Tarrant County's County Judge?
Tim O'Hare. He is the 33rd County Judge of Tarrant County since the county's founding in 1849, took office January 1, 2023, and his current term runs through January 1, 2027. He is running for re-election November 3, 2026, and has said the …
Who is Tarrant County's Sheriff?
Bill E. Waybourn. Source: Tarrant County elected officials (tarrantcountytx.gov).
Who is the State Senator for Tarrant County's District 9?
Taylor Rehmet (Democrat), who won the November 4, 2025 special election to replace Republican Kelly Hancock — Hancock left to become acting state comptroller. Rehmet won by roughly 14,000 votes (~15% margin) and is completing the remainder …
Which ISD serves Pelican Bay?
Azle ISD serves Pelican Bay. AISD enrolls approximately 6,600 students with a TEA score of 78 (C) for 2024-25 (pending TEA confirmation), and the mascot is the Hornets. Pelican Bay itself is a small (~1,858 residents, Census 2020) lakeside …
All Pelican Bay Q&As → Community Voice
History
Founded 1970
A failed dairy turned planned lake village
In 1970 Olen Yandell looked at his struggling Circle-Y dairy farm just north of Azle, off FM 730 on Eagle Mountain Lake, and imagined turning it into a Texas Sausalito. His 148-acre plat, named for nearby Pelican Island, called for shops, a sailing school, a riding club and a community pool. The grander vision never materialized, but families bought lots on his subdivided pastures and the community took root. Residents incorporated Pelican Bay as a city in 1981. The town has stayed a working-class lake village of about 2,000 people, with a mix of manufactured and site-built homes, defined more by its Eagle Mountain Lake shoreline and its Azle ISD identity than by Yandell's resort ambitions. Sources: TSHA Handbook of Texas; City of Pelican Bay; Wikipedia.
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