On this day in 1882, according to the Texas State Historical Association, William H. Gaston’s then-10-year-old, 1,400-acre settlement of East Dallas was officially incorporated; at the time, the association says there were about 6,000 residents in the area. (All of this information comes to us courtesy of neighborhood banker Mark Smith with Veritex Bank.)
At the time, according to the Historical Association, “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 (I’m not sure where). 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.” (Even back then, the politicians just couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, it seems.)
“The city of Dallas took over all the debt of East Dallas in addition to its streets, schools and public buildings,” the Historical Association says.
And here’s my favorite part of this little walk down memory lane, something that proves the people who lived in this neighborhood more than 100 years ago aren’t so different from the people who live here today:
“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.”
Talk about sticking it to the man.
