At the turn of the 20th century, Dallas was the leading market for paper jewelry and wholesale liquor in the Southwest. In addition to cotton, grain, and even buffalo, it quickly became a center of trade. Dallas Cotton Exchange was founded in 1907 and was one of the largest cotton markets in the early 20th century. In addition, the city was a top producer of cotton-ginning machinery. Dallas was also a center of food processing and textiles and leather products during the early 20th century. An automobile factory and a branch bank of the Federal Reserve System were located here. By 1910, people in business hoped to increase the city’s population to 150,000 by forming the 150,000 Club.
Dallas’ 15-story Praetorian Building, built in 1909, was the tallest building in Texas and the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi. The building marked Dallas’ rise to prominence. A thoroughbred racetrack was built, and their owners established the Dallas Jockey Club. The trotters raced at a track in Fort Worth, where a similar drivers club was based. Job and housing competition surged as the population grew rapidly.
These pictures are cool, but some are obviously from different dates. Dallas policemen wouldn’t have been walking on paved roads regulated by then in 1905 if there were no electric stoplights.
Those are clearly 1930s or 1940s cars
the one thing that has stood the test of time… Dallas traffic
That magnificent building would have been tragic anyway, but the gratuitously ugly building they replaced it with is insulting.