History of Dallas, Texas (1874-1929)

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The history of Dallas, Texas (USA) from 1874 to 1929 documents the city's industrialization. Originally a small community built around agriculture, the convergence of several railroads in Dallas made the city a strategic location for several expanding industries. During the time, Dallas prospered and grew to become the most populous city in Texas,^[1] lavish steel and masonry structures replaced timber constructions, and a zoo, a university, and an airport were established. Conversely, the city suffered multiple setbacks with a recession from a series of failing markets (the "Panic of 1893") and the disastrous flooding of the Trinity River in the spring of 1908.

Contents 1 Shift to industry 2 Outlaws 3 Panic of 1893 4 1908 flood 5 Aviation, education and financial center 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Shift to industry

The shift towards manufacturing and heavy industry in Dallas formed partially out of problems hurting Dallas area farmers. After purchasing supplies on credit during the year, farmers owed merchants the majority of their crop due to high shipping costs to the coast and the falling price of cotton. A group known as the Farmers' Alliance, created in 1877, hoped to break this cycle of poverty by setting up a Dallas warehouse to ship cotton to St. Louis because the cost of shipping to Missouri was significantly lower than the cost of shipping to the coast. However, bankers refused to finance the warehouse, and the venture failed within twenty months.^[2]

Dallas' growing industrial sector was a boon to both its citizens and the city's coffers — growing in wealth from its booming economy, the city began to light its streets with gas lamps (the first appeared in 1874) and began to brick over dirt lanes. In 1880, the first telephone line came to Dallas, linking the water company and the fire station.^[2] In 1888, the Dallas Zoo opened as the first zoological garden in the state.^[3] In 1890, Dallas annexed the geographically-larger city of East Dallas, making it the most populous city in Texas.^[1]

[edit] Outlaws

Dallas' status as a young, wealthy city in a practical-frontier made it very attractive to numerous and iconic outlaws. Belle Starr began her stints in Dallas as a dance hall dancer and singer, and later harbored outlaws and sold stolen horses.^[2] Doc Holliday came to Dallas to restore his health where he opened a dentist's office, but he soon turned to gambling. In 1875, he killed a man and left Dallas.^[2] Sam Bass robbed four trains in the spring of 1878, and that summer, was killed in an ambush near Round Rock.^[2]

[edit] Panic of 1893

Following the national financial "Panic of 1893", numerous industries and five Dallas banks failed. Cotton prices dipped below five cents a pound, and the lumber and flour markets had all but vanished.^[4]

By 1898 however, the city began to recover and grow again. The economic panic also affected unionized labor, which had just begun to organize: the American Federation of Labor granted a charter to the Trades Assembly of Dallas in 1899.^[4] In 1894, Parkland Memorial Hospital opened just west of Oak Lawn.^[5] In 1903, Oak Cliff, a city across the Trinity River, was annexed. The same year, the Wilson Building, patterned after Paris' Grand Opera House, opened on Main Street in downtown.^[6]

By the turn of the century Dallas was the leading drug, book, jewelry, and wholesale liquor market in the Southwestern United States.^[4] It also quickly became the center of trade in cotton, grain, and bison. It was the world's leading inland cotton market, and it still led the world in the manufacturing of saddlery and cotton gin machinery.^[4] As it further entered the 20th century, Dallas transformed from an agricultural center to a center of banking, insurance, and other businesses.

[edit] 1908 flood

The relationship between Dallas and the Trinity River was never as healthy as Dallasites had hoped for. Dallas's establishment on the banks of the Trinity was done with hopes that navigation south to the Trinity and Galveston Bays, and ultimately the Gulf of Mexico, would be realized. However, attempts to even move paddleboats up and down the river proved futile, and plans to transform the river into a canal never came to fruition. The Trinity also suffered from chronic flooding: floods occurred in 1844, 1866, 1871, and 1890, but none were as severe as the flood of 1908. On 26 May 1908, the Trinity River reached a depth of 52.6 feet (16.03 m) and a width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km).^[7] Five people died, 4,000 were left homeless, and property damages were estimated at $2.5 million.^[7]

“	Now the wreckage of a shed or outhouse would move by, followed by a drowned swine or other livestock. The construction forces of the Texas & Pacific worked feverishly to safeguard the long trestle carrying their tracks across the stream. Suddenly this whole structure turned on its side down-stream, broke loose from the rest of the track at one end and swung out into the middle of the current and began breaking up, first into large sections and then into smaller pieces, rushing madly along to some uncertain destination. [Approximately half a dozen of the workmen fell into the torrent at this point; exaggerated reports of their drowning swept the city.]	”
—C.L. Moss, [7]

Dallas was without power for three days, all telephone and telegraph service was down, and rail service was canceled. The only way to reach Oak Cliff was by boat.^[2] West Dallas was hit harder than any other part of the city—the Dallas Times Herald said "indescribable suffering" plagued the area. Much to the horror of residents, thousands of livestock drowned in the flood and some became lodged in the tops of trees—the stench of their decay hung over the city as the water subsided.^[7]

After the disastrous flood, the city wanted to find a way to control the reckless Trinity and to build a bridge linking Oak Cliff and Dallas. The immediate reaction was citizens and the city clamoring to build an indestructible, all-weather crossing over the Trinity. This had already been attempted following the 1890 flood—the result was the "Long Wooden Bridge," that connected Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff and Cadiz in Dallas, but the unstable wooden structure was washed swiftly away by the 1908 flood. George B. Dealey, publisher of the Dallas Morning News, proposed a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) concrete bridge based on a bridge crossing the Missouri River in Kansas City. Ultimately a US$650,000 bond election was approved and in 1912, the Oak Cliff viaduct (now the Houston Street viaduct) was opened among festivities drawing 58,000 spectators.^[7] The bridge, at the time, was the longest concrete structure in the world.^[7]

Efforts beyond this had begun in 1911 when George Kessler, a city planner, created a plan for both the Trinity and the city. His plans included using levees to divert the river, removing railroad lines on Pacific Avenue, consolidating rail depots into a central station, new parks and playgrounds, and the straightening and widening of several streets. Most of his plans lay unimplemented, but in later years, many began to see its importance. In 1920, Kessler was brought back to update his plan and by the 1930s many of his plans had been realized.^[2]

[edit] Aviation, education and financial center

Efforts began in 1910 to have Southwestern University in Georgetown relocate to Dallas. The school refused, but this action brought Dallas to the attention of the Methodists. They voted in 1911 to establish a university in Dallas, after the city offered $300,000 and 666.5 acres (2.70 km²) of land for the campus. In 1915, Southern Methodist University opened and is still operational today.^[2]

In 1911, Dallas became the location of the eleventh regional branch of the Federal Reserve Bank. The city had campaigned to have it located in Dallas for years, and the bank's arrival assured Dallas's place as a major financial center.^[2]

In 1912, The Adolphus Hotel was constructed in downtown Dallas. The Beaux Arts style building, at twenty-one stories and 312 feet (95 m) was the tallest building in Texas at the time. It officially opened on 5 October 1912. In August 1922, the 29-story Magnolia Petroleum Building (now the Magnolia Hotel) opened next door and took the title of tallest-in-Texas.^[8]

Aviation became a major issue in the city in World War I. Love Field was established as an aviation training ground, and Fair Park was the home of Camp Dick, a training facility as well. The city purchased Love Field in 1927 to use as a municipal airport.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dallas, Texas from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Dallas History from the Dallas Historical Society

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