Dallas History
Overview
DALLAS!!! AAHHAA such a beautiful place… isn’t it a lovely place to be in. But what is the history hidden behind this awesome city would be a very common question that we would ponder but never bother to look into. If you are a history buff or are just looking for some informative material on Dallas then read on this might be of help to you.
Dallas as it is colorful now has always been a vibrant place. Dallas as what we know today, was first visited by John Neely Bryan in 1839, at that time he would have had the slightest idea that this place would one day be of such importance to The United States. He came with the intention of starting trade in Dallas, as the area was very favorable for trade with settlers, Indians and the Trinity River. When he returned in 1841 he saw that half of the people had left as a result of a treaty that was signed when he had gone to Arkansas to settle his trade there. It was then that he decided that he would make this as a permanent community and sent invitations to nearby settlers to come and settle in his planned town. Slowly the town started developing and in 1845 the first elections were held after which it became a part of Texas. In 1846 Dallas County was structured and it became the transitory county seat. A small cabin of log was the first courthouse in Dallas; later on Dallas became the permanent county seat.
Early Development
Developments started taking place slowly. Cotton was planted as the first crop and it turned out to be the cash crop for Dallas. Dallas published its first newspaper the Cedar Snag in 1849, which later came to be known as Dallas Herald. Slowly factories started coming up and a brickyard was constructed. This brickyard provided the maximum material for construction until the Civil War. Almost 11 years after John Neely Bryan had stepped in Dallas Alexander Cockrell bought the land that was left by John. He constructed a bridge over the Trinity River so that trade could be made easy between Dallas and the nearby areas. Alexander built a sawmill, a general store, a flourmill and a hotel.
Dallas was finally declared as a town in 1856 with Samuel Pryor as its first elected mayor. People from the settlement of La Reunion came over to Dallas and slowly became the primary citizens, they supplemented the town with artistic and scholarly aspects and in the year 1859 Dallas had a barbershop and a photographer shop too!!!
By the year 1860 the population of this newly developed town grew up to 2000. However 1860 saw a very turbulent phase for Dallas; it started arranging for war. There were debates on secession and a volunteer firm was established. In the same year a massive fire broke out in the square and most of the business establishments were destroyed. Slavery became common and slaves were whipped and hung. By the end of the year 1860 most of the parts in the town were rebuilt. In 1861 Dallas County selected 741-237 for secession. The people were very encouraging and compassionate about the attempts that were being made to prepare for war. Dallas contributed money, flour and other supplies to the southern states.
At that time the prices soared up and the newspapers were not printed for almost a year. It was difficult for people to buy cloth and reconstruction during that time came along with lots of other problems. After the civil war many African Americans migrated to Dallas, which was still more prosperous in comparison to the southern states.
Steadily and with some hardship, the young city grew. A positive will helped bring the railroads to the area in the 1872; gas lamps illuminated the streets of Dallas in 1874. The earliest telephone line connected the water company to the fire station in 1880. In the year 1890 Dallas took possession of the city of East Dallas and in 1903, Dallas took Oak Cliff. There were constant flood that kept occurring in Dallas but 1908 saw the worst flood. The Oak Cliff was connected to Dallas by a bridge and lots of ways were sought out to overcome this problem. The Federal Reserve Bank was established in 1914, Southern Methodist University in 1915.
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