Celina ( ) is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. Celina is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
The population was 16,739 at the 2020 census, and according to 2025 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 64,427.
The Dallas Business Journal has ranked Celina as the fastest-growing city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex for three consecutive years (2019-2021). The population growth rate of Celina was 50.8% from 2015 to 2019. Celina's maximum project buildout population is approximately 378,000. In 2017, Celina passed a gigabit city ordinance, which was an innovative initiative to provide fiber, gigabit internet speed to all of its residential homes. As of 2021, approximately 9,300 homes have high speed fiber internet, and residents have pure fiber network with unlimited data usage and speeds of 1,000 megabits per second.
History
thumb|North Louisiana Drive in Celina, 2013|leftAlthough Celina was not established until 1876, settlers came into the area at a much earlier date. In October 1879, a settlement formed south of its current location. A Methodist church was built in 1880, and it doubled as a schoolhouse for a short time. Celina's first postmaster John T. Mulkey renamed the town after his hometown – Celina, Tennessee. By 1884, Celina had a gristmill, cotton gin, school, several general stores, and a drug store that has been opened in “Old Celina.”
In 1902, news had reached Celina that the St. Louis, San Francisco, and Texas Railway would be constructed and extended to reach the area. Shortly thereafter, the merchants of the town made the decision to move the entire town closer to the railway. When the time came to move, the businesses and houses were loaded onto rollers and moved north to be closer to the railway. The town coined itself “Rollertown.” The move was completed in February 1902.
In 1910, Celina resident J. Fred Smith (who later became the first mayor of University Park in Dallas) had the business section rebuilt from a row of frame buildings facing the railroad tracks to uniform brick buildings around a square. By July 1911, Smith's effort had paid off as several new buildings were ready for use and gravel streets were constructed, which gave Celina the appearance of a wide-awake, growing little city. Businesses began to relocate from their wooden structures into the new brick buildings, and many of the wooden structures moved into a residential section and transformed into homes. This was a pivotal moment in Celina's character as it marked the shift towards the brick features that define the Downtown Square today.
Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Koppen Climate Classification System, Celina has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated “Cfa” on climate maps.