Cedar Hill is a city in Dallas and Ellis counties, Texas, situated along the eastern shore of Joe Pool Lake approximately sixteen miles southwest of downtown Dallas. With a population of about 49,000, it is a significant suburb in the southern sector of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. The community's history reaches back to the nineteenth century, when it grew as a small agricultural settlement in the hills of what is now southwest Dallas County. Cedar Hill officially incorporated in 1938, but its most dramatic growth came in the 1980s and 1990s, after Joe Pool Lake opened in 1989 and the city became a destination for residential development. The city is known for its natural setting. Cedar Hill sits atop a notable elevation change — its namesake hill is among the higher points in the Dallas area — and the surrounding landscape of wooded ridges and lake shoreline sets it apart from the flatter suburbs to the north. Cedar Hill State Park, located on Joe Pool Lake, offers camping, hiking, mountain biking, and shoreline recreation, while the Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center protects important Hill Country habitat within the metroplex. Cedar Hill's neighborhoods range from established mid-century subdivisions to newer master-planned communities and lake-area developments. The city's 52 neighborhood and community parks and a network of greenbelts reinforce its outdoors-oriented identity. Public education is provided by the Cedar Hill Independent School District. The city's location along U.S. Route 67 and Interstate 20 places downtown Dallas within about sixteen miles and Fort Worth within about thirty, connecting residents to the broader region's employment, cultural, and air-travel centers.