Big deal

North Texas heiress' 6666 Ranch, of recent Yellowstone fame, is sold

The long-rumored sale of the 6666 Ranch — previously owned by Fort Worth rancher, horse aficionado, art collector, arts patron, and philanthropist Anne Marion — is now confirmed.

Don Bell, owner-broker of Weatherford-based Brazos River Land Co., an affiliate of United Country Real Estate, verified March 15 that the massive Texas Panhandle ranch has a new, but unidentified, owner. The sale price wasn’t disclosed.

Reports surfaced earlier this year that Taylor Sheridan, co-creator of the hit TV show Yellowstone and its 1883 spinoff, led a group of investors that bought the ranch. However, neither Sheridan (an alumnus of Fort Worth’s R.L. Paschal High School who lives in Weatherford) nor any of the other individual buyers has acknowledged the purchase.

Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner, has featured the ranch several times. Sheridan reportedly is working on another spinoff with the working title 6666, and as of February, it was still in development.

The ranch went on the market in 2020 for $341 million. Marion, who died in 2020, spelled out in her will that the property be sold. The ranch — actually three properties used mostly for cattle ranching — covers 266,255 acres in Carson, Hutchinson, King, and Sherman counties.

Bell says in a news release that he and his late colleague Milt Bradford represented the owners, who “are committed to keeping it intact and preserving its legacy.” Sam Middleton of Lubbock-based real estate brokerage firm Chas. S Middleton and Son represented the Marion estate.

Bell says the ranch “was purchased in its entirety and will continue to represent the icon that it is in the ranching community. History is always being made around this unique ranch, and this purchase was no different.”

This marks the first time the ranch has been sold since its establishment in 1870. “At over 266,000 acres, this is one of the most significant ranch purchases in recent U.S. history,” Bell says.

Marion’s maternal grandfather, legendary Texas rancher, oilman, and landowner Samuel “Burk” Burnett, started what now is known as 6666.

After he died in 1922, the bulk of Burnett’s estate went to his daughter, Anne Burnett, in a trusteeship for her not-yet-born daughter (Marion). Anne Burnett eventually married Charles Tandy, who founded Fort Worth-based Tandy Corp., which owned the RadioShack chain of electronics stores. Following Anne Burnett Tandy’s death in 1980, Marion inherited most of the estate, including two of the three parcels that now make up 6666. She purchased the third parcel, the 9,428-acre Frisco Creek Ranch, in 2016.

The 6666 has operated as a cattle ranch since its founding in 1870.

Photo courtesy of Chas. S. Middleton and Son

The 6666 has operated as a cattle ranch since its founding in 1870.

tv celebrities texas home-for-sale

full steam ahead

11 Dallas suburbs soar as fastest-growing U.S. cities in last decade

City Government of Celina, Texas - Facebook

Celina's population has soared over 300 percent in the last 10 years, according to the report.

It's no secret that Dallas-Fort Worth's population is growing faster than most other metros in the U.S., but now several surprising Dallas neighbors have been named among the top 10 fastest-growing suburb nationwide over the last decade.

Celina nearly led the nation with an astonishing 314 percent increase in population from 2014 to 2023, according to a recent growth study by marketplace platform StorageCafe. The far-flung suburb, which is located about 45 miles north of downtown Dallas, ranked No. 2 in the report's rankings of the 100 fastest-growing U.S. cities during the 10-year period.

The report said Celina was home to more than 27,000 residents in 2023, but now the U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city's population has grown to more than 43,300 people.

"A mix of diverse housing options, proximity to city amenities, a strong local economy and access to top-rated schools and entertainment have made it one of the most attractive places to settle in the region," the report's author wrote.

This isn't the first time Celina has entered the spotlight for its exploding population: It was the No. 1 fastest-growing U.S. city in 2023, and recently came out on top of GoBankingRates' new study ranking of the fastest-growing affluent suburbs in America for 2025.

Four more Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs earned spots among the top 10 fastest-growing U.S. cities from 2014 to 2023: Melissa (No. 3), Princeton (No. 7), Prosper (No. 8), and Fate (No. 9).

In all, 11 DFW cities earned spots in the report, including:

No. 14 – Anna
No. 33 – Midlothian
No. 43 – Royse City
No. 45 – Forney
No. 58 – Little Elm
No. 72 – Frisco

Fate, Dallas suburb The small town of Fate has grown by 172 percent since 2014, StorageCafe says.fatetx.gov/

"Aside from Frisco, which is already a well-established suburb, the rest are smaller cities — six of which more than doubled in size during this period," the report said. "The remaining cities still saw impressive gains, with population increases exceeding 60 percent. Meanwhile, Dallas proper experienced more modest growth, with a 5 percent increase over the decade."

The report added that Dallas-Fort Worth's population surge has also led to a high demand for housing. Home prices in Celina stood at nearly $611,000 in November 2024, whereas Melissa's home prices were about $466,000 during that same period.

For comparison, the national average price of a home is $354,000.

Only three Dallas suburbs had the most affordable home prices out of the total 11 DFW suburbs on the list: Princeton ($326,299), Royse City ($332,537), and Forney ($323,229).

StorageCafe says the reasons for population shifts vary greatly, with many people seeking out cities with a more affordable cost of living, or those moving for socioeconomic factors like better employment opportunities.

"Population growth is far from even across the U.S. Some cities are experiencing significant increases, directly driven by steady in-migration, rising immigration and birth rates outpacing death rates," the report said. "But what’s fueling these trends runs deeper — economic and social forces like shifting job markets, the rise of remote and hybrid work and soaring living costs are all reshaping where people choose to live."

Other fast-growing Texas cities
Texas had the greatest number of cities to earn spots in the report's ranking of the 100 fastest-growing U.S. cities over the last decade, with 25 total cities making the cut with the highest growth rates nationwide.

Austin had five suburbs land on the list: Manor (No. 6), Leander (No. 16), Kyle (No. 53), Hutto (No. 54), and Buda (No. 68).

San Antonio also had five suburbs make the top 100, including Boerne (No. 63), Selma (No. 74), Fair Oaks Ranch (No. 70), New Braunfels (No. 77), and Canyon Lake (No. 99).

Houston only had four entries on the list, but Fulshear led the nation as the fastest-growing U.S. city over the last 10 years. The remaining Houston-area cities included in the report were Manvel (No. 24), Katy (No. 82), and Conroe (No. 83).

The top 10 fastest-growing cities over the last decade are:

No. 1 – Fulshear, Texas
No. 2 – Woodbridge, Virginia
No. 3 – Celina, Texas
No. 4 – Davenport, Florida
No. 5 – Melissa, Texas
No. 6 – Manor, Texas
No. 7 – Princeton, Texas
No. 8 – Prosper, Texas
No. 9 – Fate, Texas
No. 10 – Nolensville, Tennessee

celina celina growth frisco little elm prosper storagecafe suburbs us census bureau population growth

Big deal

North Texas heiress' 6666 Ranch, of recent Yellowstone fame, is sold

The 6666 has operated as a cattle ranch since its founding in 1870.

full steam ahead

11 Dallas suburbs soar as fastest-growing U.S. cities in last decade

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