Dallas history

As a frontier post of the Wild West, Dallas established its reputation as a place for entrepreneurs and go-getters. The infamous gambler and gunfighter, Doc Holliday, started out here as a dentist.

In the 1870s, two major railroads met at Dallas and became the catalyst for the city's rapid development as a trade centre. In 1907 the Neiman Marcus store put Dallas on the fashion map. The Federal Reserve Bank was established in 1914, and an old prospector struck oil (black gold) 160km (100 miles) east of Dallas in 1930, leading to the development of the East Texas Oilfield. Already a financial and business centre, Dallas was booming.

Dallas will always be remembered for one, if not two, shootings. The first and most shocking occurred on 22 November 1963, when President J F Kennedy was assassinated in downtown Dallas. The second shooting may only have been fictional but, when JR Ewing was shot by an unknown killer in the TV series Dallas, fans across the world were devastated