History of Dallas

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Interesting Facts!

The naming of Dallas county and Dallas city were completely independent of each other.
The founder of Dallas, John Neely Bryan was committed to a State Lunatic Asylum and died there within a few months.
Bonnie and Clyde met each other in Dallas .
JFK was shot in Dallas , close to the spot where John Neely Bryan originally settled.
The first capitalist of Dallas was a woman, Sarah Cockrell. When she died she owned a fourth of downtown.
Doc Holiday was a dentist in Dallas before he became a gambler and outlaw.
Dallas prospered shortly after the great depression due to the discovery of oil in 1931.
Texas Instruments and Mary Kay Cosmetics have their headquarters in Dallas .
A newspaper staff defeated the Ku Klux Klan by printing articles about the cruel actions they took. This was considered one of journalism's greatest triumphs.

Timeline!

1841	John Neely Bryan settled on the Trinity River to set up a trading post.
1850	The town of Dallas is named the county seat of the new Dallas County
1852	John Neely Bryan sold his property in Dallas to Alexander Cockrell
1856	Dallas became an official town, and Dr. Samuel B. Pryor was the first mayor government
1860	Most of Dallas was destroyed by a large fire.
1861	Dallas voted to secede from the Union
1872	The railroad and telegraph lines reached Dallas .
1875	Elizabeth Cady lectured on women's rights in Dallas .
1885	The Dallas Morning News published its first issue. Issues
1886	Dallas women started two literary associations, a Women's Home, and a shelter and child care center.
1901	A Colored Fair and Tri-Centennial Exposition was held to begin an African American enterprise.
1905	Theodore Roosevelt was the first President to visit Dallas
1907	Dallas adopted a Mayor-Commission form of government.
1908	Dallas had the worst flooding of the Trinity River .
1915	The first university opened, Southern Methodist University.
1917	Refugees from the Mexican Civil War immigrated to Dallas and formed a Hispanic community demographic
1919	Dallas along with the county approved prohibition and women's suffrage amendments into the state constitution.
1920	Dallas ranked first among Texas cities for women in the work force.
1922	Booker T. Washington High school is completed. It was the only black high school for 17 years.
1923	A local newspaper defeated the influence of the Ku Klux Klan.
1925	The Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce (now known as the Dallas Black Chamber) was organized.
1934	The Flying Red Horse was installed on the Magnolia building.
1940	Mexican Chamber of Commerce was organized.
1952	Big Tex made his first appearance at the State Fair.
1957	Calvert Collins became the first woman elected to the Dallas City Council government
1960	The Dallas Cowboys, professional football team, was formed.
1963	President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade, not far from where John Neely Bryan first settled.
1966	Joseph Lockridge became the first African-American elected to the Texas Legislature from Dallas .
1967	Dr. Emmett Conrad was the first African-American elected to the Dallas School Board.
1969	Anita N. Martinez became the first Hispanic elected to the Dallas city council.
1973	Lucy Patterson became the first African-American woman elected to the Dallas City Council.
1976	Mayor Pro-Tem Adlene Harrison became the first woman Mayor of Dallas.
1980	The Dallas Mavericks basketball team was created.
1991	Dallas celebrated its 150 th birthday.
2004	Students of University of Wisconsin Eau Claire create web-pages relating to Dallas.

Summary!

In 1839 John Neely Bryan visited an area near the Trinity River that he heard would be a good trading post. He went home, and returned in 1841 after a treaty was signed removing all Native Americans from North Texas , and decided to turn his property into a community. He invited surrounding settlers to the area. The Beeman family moved to the area in 1842. They planted the first corn, and Margaret Beeman married John Neely Bryan in 1843. Eventually, more members from the nearby Peter's Colony came to settle. This area became known as “ Dallas .”

In the beginning, John Neely Bryan acted as the postmaster, storeowner, and his home was the courthouse. Within two years, a doctor and a lawyer arrived to Dallas to practice. In 1845 32 citizens in Dallas were able to vote for annexation, and Dallas became a part of the state of Texas . In the next four years Dallas got a hotel, private school, church, and a newspaper, the Dallas Herald.

In a852 Alexander Cockrell purchased all of John Neely Bryan's land, and built a bridge over the Trinity River . He died, and his wife built a flour mill and hotel. When she dies in 1892, she was known as Dallas ' first capitalist.

By 1860 there were 2000 people living in Dallas . This was also the time that Dallas was preparing for war. In July a huge fire broke out and destroyed most of the business buildings. A slave plot was suspected, and three African-Americans were hung. All other slaves in Dallas were ordered to be whipped. The next year a state of war was declared, and citizens did their best to help out the South. They had an advantage because they were so far from the actual fighting, so they were able to help a lot. On June 19, 1865 Texan slaves were freed. Dallas became more prosperous than the rest of the South because people moved there from the damaged states.

In the 1870s Dallas was a main stop for people moving west. It was the last chance for these people to get supplies, so Dallas grew industries in grain and cotton. Dallas also made utilities available such as water and gas. Farmers struggled in this decade because of shipping costs, so they set up the Farmer's Alliance to decrease the cost of freight charges. This alliance was ineffective, and eventually failed. In 1890 the economy struggled. Many banks in Dallas closed and the lumber and flour markets almost disappeared.

The Trinity River flooded many times in the nineteenth century, and in 1911 George Kessler started a city plan to attempt to control the floods. He straightened streets, created parks and playgrounds, and consolidated train depots. This year was also the year that one of the twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks was established in Dallas .

During World War I Love Field was used as an aviation training ground. Then after the Great Depression there were about 18,000 people unemployed. The struggle did not last long, however, because in 1930 Columbus Marion “Dad” Joiner struck oil near Dallas . The city was able to benefit from this and Dallas became the financial center for oil fields in much of the Southwest. Large corporations were attracted to this prosperity, and many made Dallas their hometown.

On November 22, 1963 President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The man arrested for his murder was killed by a Dallas nightclub owner. In 1970, the Kennedy Memorial was erected.

In the next few years Dallas continued to grow and prosper. It has been around for 163 years, and is now the 8th largest city in the United States .

For more information, visit the Dallas Historical Society