Railroads
By 1885 five railroads served the county, and in 1898 there were seven reaching out in all directions. Dallas was the transportation and shipping hub for north Texas, able to connect to the entire nation. New communities developed around train depots: Mesquite, Garland, Richardson, Addison, Carrollton, Irving, Grand Prairie, Duncanville, Seagoville, Wilmer, and Hutchins. The population soared, from barely 13,000 in 1870 to 67,000 in 1890, and then 135,000 by 1910.
Trading center / 1873–1918
Connecting to places near and far
Two railroads made Dallas a city--the Houston & Texas Central and the Texas & Pacific. They brought a flood of new residents and businesses. Soon two were not enough, and more railroads were attracted to the city to take agricultural products from farms to markets and consumer goods to everybody. The cities of Dallas County also built other transportation, streetcars, commuter rail, automobiles, and even one last effort to sail the Trinity River. And then the airplanes landed.
