Dallas County
Historical marker location:Dallas County
After Texas became a Republic in 1836, the Trinity River separated Robertson County to the west and Nacogdoches County to the east. This area, called "Three Forks" for the confluence of three branches of the Trinity, was settled mainly by Peters colonists after 1841. A town named Dallas was on this site by 1842.
Its founder, John Neely Bryan, led efforts to create Dallas County in 1846, which included the settlements of Dallas, Cedar Springs, Farmers Branch, and Hord's Ridge. The Legislature possibly named the county for George Mifflin Dallas (1792 - 1864), then vice president of the United States. The town of Dallas was confirmed as county seat by election in 1850.
The 1850 census showed 2,743 settlers in the county, most of whom were farmers. Railroads came in the 1870s and the population leaped in 1880 to 33,488, one-third living in the City of Dallas. In 1885 farmland sold for $15 per acre; by 1920, with cotton prices briefly soaring, farmland was worth $300 per acre.
Railroads, interurban lines, and highways aided the urbanization of the county, which accelerated during the 1930s depression. After World War II the county became primarily urban. In 1980 the county population was 1,556,549, less than two per cent rural.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986.