Dallas
History
In 1841 John Neely Bryan settled at a site where the Trinity River's three branches merged. Bryan noticed that the river's main branch was narrower at this point than at any other place for miles, making it an ideal place for a trading post.
By 1842 a few more settlers arrived and Bryan's encampment was called Peter's Colony. In 1845 the name was changed to honor U.S. Vice President George Mifflin Dallas (1792–1864). Dallas was incorporated as a town in 1856 and as a city in 1871.
The settlement grew slowly until the Civil War, when it served as a supply
Cotton growing in north Texas made Dallas one of the world's largest inland cotton markets, and by 1900 Dallas had become the regional financial center servicing Texas' cotton farmers.
The next boom for Dallas came in 1930 with the east Texas oil strike. The city's financial institutions began servicing the region's oil magnates, and many of Dallas' citizens became rich off of petroleum-related enterprises. The 1930s also made outlaw robbers Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker an infamous part of Dallas' history. Both lived in the city as children, and they were working in Dallas in January of 1930 when they met. After several of their escapades, Bonnie and Clyde were nearly captured in Dallas in 1933. They were ambushed by Dallas police but escaped with only minor injuries.
A fire and flooding both influenced the city's development. In 1860 a fire destroyed much of the downtown business district. By 1908 frequent flooding of the Trinity River forced city leaders to consider redesigning the city. Planning engineer George Kessler developed a city plan that included widening the Trinity River, moving railroad tracks outside of the city, and widening city streets. At the time, these plans were considered radical; however, Kessler's ideas were slowly carried out over many years.
Perhaps Dallas will always best be known for one dark moment in American history. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy (president 1961–63; 1917–1963) was assassinated as his motorcade passed by Dealy Plaza in downtown Dallas. Riding in an open limousine, President Kennedy was shot twice, once in the head and once in the neck. He was pronounced dead upon arriving at Parkland Memorial Hospital. Texas Governor Connally, riding with Kennedy, was also shot, though not fatally. After the shots, a reporter looked up at surrounding buildings and saw a rifle being drawn back into a sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. Lee Harvey Oswald was accused of the killing. Oswald himself was shot only two days later in the basement of a Dallas police station by Jack Ruby. A presidential commission headed by Earl Warren, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, ruled that Oswald acted alone and was not part of a conspiracy, as many believed. Skeptics dispute the Warren Report, though conclusive evidence has yet to be uncovered implicating anyone other than Oswald. The controversy and mystique surrounding the Kennedy assassination draw many tourists to both Dealy Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository. Dedicated in June 1970, the John F. Kennedy Memorial, designed as a place for remembrance and meditation, is located at the corner of Main and Market Streets.
Dallas' image was tarnished by the Kennedy assassination, and the city worked hard to rebuild its reputation. In 1973 the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport opened, and in 1984 Dallas hosted the Republican National Convention. From 1980 to 1982 the television drama Dallas was the top-rated series in the United States.
In 1998 the city suffered through a severe drought and heat wave. Temperatures of at least 56°C (100°F) held for 29 consecutive days, causing widespread crop damage and more than 100 deaths.
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Dallas is still a center for traditional businesses, including the cotton and petroleum industries. It is also a center for women's fashions, and it is a regional hub for financial and insurance institutions. High-tech industry has been growing in Dallas and is projected to be a major growth industry in coming years.
