Portal:Dallas-Fort Worth/Selected article/November 2006

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Dallas-Fort Worth Portal

The History of Dallas between 1874 and 1929 saw the city grow from a center of farming and ranching into a major, self-sustaining industrial city. Early in the period, gas lamps, telephone lines, and a fire station came to the city. The period also saw numerous and iconic outlaws, including Belle Starr, Doc Holliday and Sam Bass. By 1890, Dallas had become the most populous city in Texas after annexing neighboring East Dallas, and in 1903, Oak Cliff, across the Trinity River, was annexed. By the turn of the 20th century Dallas was the leading drug, book, jewelry, and wholesale liquor market in the Southwestern United States. It also quickly became the center of trade in cotton, grain, and even buffalo. It was the world's leading inland cotton market and led the world in manufacture of saddlery and cotton gin machinery.

A turning point in the period occurred on 26 May 1908 when the Trinity River flooded, reaching a depth of 52.6 feet (16.03 m) and a width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Five people died, 4,000 were left homeless, and property damages were estimated at $2.5 million. Dallas was without power for three days, all telephone and telegraph service was down, and rail service was cancelled. The only way to reach Oak Cliff was by boat. 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.