Big D - Mini History of Dallas, Texas

Dallas began as a trading post and it still is. The difference is that in 1841, when John Neely Bryan built a cabin near the only ford of the Trinity River for miles around, his market was local and limited. Today, Dallas is the home of the world's largest wholesale trade complex and the nation's ninth-largest city.

Texas' third largest city and part of its largest metro area, Dallas is the "New York" of Texas, the home of nine Fortune 500 companies and more than 5,000 corporate headquarters. Houston and San Antonio have larger populations, but Dallas is more fast-paced and cosmopolitan in character. It contrasts sharply with Fort Worth, only 30 miles to the west.

Neely's trading post stood at the intersection of two well-worn animal and Indian trails.

Soon, Dallas was at the crossroads of two major routes used by early-day settlers. By 1844, a half-mile square town site had been surveyed and staked out.

Dallas has the distinction of being one of the few, if not the only, major cities in America with an uncertain pedigree. No one has been able to determine if Dallas was named for the man who served as vice president of the United States from 1845 to 1849 (George Mifflin Dallas), Dallas' brother, Naval Commodore Alexander J. Dallas or one of the areas early settlers, Joseph Dallas.

When Dallas County was organized in 1846, Dallas became the temporary county seat. Two other communities, long since absorbed by Dallas, rivaled it for a time. But in 1850, voters picked Dallas as the permanent county seat. Six years later, the Texas legislature granted it a town charter.

Slow growth marked the first 30 years of Dallas' existence. By 1870, it had only 3,000 people. Twenty years later, thanks to the convergence of two railroad lines on Dallas, it had become a city of more than 38,000-then the largest in Texas. By the turn of the century, Dallas fell to second largest behind Houston. (More recently, San Antonio surpassed it in population.)

Dallas has always been a city driven by business and business people. Its business community formed a club in 1905 dedicated to seeing that Dallas was a city of 150,000 people by 1910. It took 15 years for that to happen, not five, but the 150,000 Club shows the attitude that made Dallas grow.

By 1907, Dallas had its first skyscraper, a 15-story building. Within a decade, Dallas had the most imposing skyline in Texas.

During the Depression, many Dallas residents lost their jobs. But the Texas Centennial celebration in 1935-36 lessened the impact on the city.

Following World War II, Dallas boomed more than ever before. After a heady period during which five new businesses were opening each day along with 13 manufacturing plants per month, Dallas' population stood at 434,000 by 1950. Within two decades it nearly doubled and by 1990 broke the one million mark.

Its estimated population in 2006 was more than 1.2 million.