Richardson, Texas, much like Plano, Texas, was formed by settlers in the 1840's.  The original settlement was near the current location of Richland college & consisted of a general store, a blacksmith's shop, & the Floyd Inn.  A gentleman by the name of William  J. Wheeler owned property through which the new railroad was heading.  This was found to be the "new center of activity."  He graciously donated this land for the railroad's right-of-way & for the town site.  E. H. Richardson was the contractor responsible for the railroad line built from Dallas to Denison.  Mr. Wheeler, among others, thought it appropriate to name the town after Mr. Richardson.  This new site soon comprised itself of a general store, post office, & drug store, & in 1873 it officially became a town - Richardson, Texas. 

600 Technology companies, like Nortel, Ericsson, Texas Instruments, AT&T, & Alcatel-Lucent reside in a large technology business center in Richardson, Texas.  This is referred to as the Telecom Corridor, in which 5,700 companies have offices.  Fossil, Inc., which you have probably heard of, headquarters its company here also.

Money magazine appointed Richardson the 15th best place to live in the United States in 2006.  You can read about this & much more by visiting the official City of Richardson website.

Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade, there are approximately 35,000 students in 55 schools - 6 of which are magnet schools.  RIchardson ISD has 40 elementary schools, 8 junior high schools, & 7 high schools.  Visit the Richardson ISD website for more information.

References:
City of Richardson, Texas official website:   http://www.cor.net/Homepage.html 
Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richardson%2C_Texas  
RISD official website:  http://www.risd.org/index.asp