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East Dallas incorporated
On this day in 1882, East Dallas was incorporated. In 1872 William H.
Gaston had begun promoting settlement in the area and had persuaded the
railroads to go through East Dallas. In the 1870s East Dallas became a
popular recreation destination on the streetcar lines that ran from
Dallas to the state fairs and the horse-racing track. East Dallas was
considered the most luxurious place to live in Dallas County; 90 percent
of its houses had running water by 1889. The main thoroughfares were
well maintained, and a speed limit of eighteen miles an hour was set to
slow down swift horses. In 1886 the first all-brick schoolhouse in
Dallas County was built in East Dallas. In 1887 another boom occurred
there when the Texas State Fair and Dallas Exposition at Fair Park
opened. In 1889 the legislature revoked the charter of East Dallas so it
could become part of Dallas. Some claimed that those who revoked the
charter did so to make Dallas the largest town in Texas. The city of
Dallas took over all the debt of East Dallas in addition to its streets,
schools, and public buildings. On December 31, 1889, the day before East
Dallas officially became part of Dallas, the city council of East Dallas
passed $45,000 in street improvements, which Dallas was forced to
finance.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- EAST DALLAS, TX
- GASTON, WILLIAM HENRY
- STATE FAIR OF TEXAS
- DALLAS, TX
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Meteorite hits Grayson County (1961)
- Terry's Texas Rangers mustered into Confederate service (1861)
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