page_title: History of Dallas
section_title: Early years (1856–1873)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Dallas / Early years (1856–1873)
caption_attribution_description: English: A map showing the holdings of the Cockrell estate c. 1871 in Dallas, Texas (USA). this map dates to a later time peroid, maybe, because there is a thing about railroads, which did not come to dallas until the 1870s mid, and i see a railroad line here....
context_section_description: On 2 February 1856, Dallas was granted a town charter during the Regular session of the Sixth Texas Legislature. Samuel Pryor was elected the first mayor along with a constable, a treasurer-recorder, and six aldermen. By 1860, the town's population reached 678, including 97 African Americans (mostly enslaved), as well as Belgian, French, German, and Swiss immigrants. By that year, the railroad was approaching from the south, and several stage lines were already passing through the city.
  In July 1860, a fire broke out in the square, destroying most of the buildings in the business district of Dallas. Out of fear, many white residents assumed that slaves were behind it, and two abolitionists were run out of town. They lynched three African-American slaves, and officials ordered all other slaves in Dallas to be whipped, as part of event that is known as the "Texas Troubles".  On the eve of the Civil War in 1861, Dallas County voted 741–237 in favor of secession. On 8 June of that year, a state of war was declared, and citizens were very supportive of the effort. The town was a long way from any battles, and suffered no damage from the war.
  The Reconstruction period brought many challenges for Dallas and some benefits for the state. On 19 June 1865 (Juneteenth), Texan slaves were emancipated, as announcement of the end of the war was delayed. Many African Americans migrated to Dallas after the war for work, because the city was thriving compared to other Southern cities. They also wanted to leave rural areas to escape the supervision of whites and establish their own communities. Freedmen's towns were scattered throughout Dallas. In attempts to maintain white supremacy, white insurgent veterans established a Ku Klux Klan chapter in 1868.  By 1871, Dallas legally became a city. In 1869 the Reconstruction legislature established a funding mechanism to support public education for the first time, and authorized school districts to be set up across the state.
  Notable Civil War veterans include William W. Ross. The Dallas Morning News states that, “William W. and Andrew J. Ross were early land owners who came to Dallas in 1866. One was a Civil War veteran, but, both men were farmers and real estate developers.”  Ross Avenue is named in honor of the two brothers and bisects the land they formerly owned. In 2009, a Nevada-based clergy group proposed that Ross Avenue be renamed after the Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi.
  The major north–south (Houston and Texas Central Railroad) and east–west (Texas and Pacific Railway) Texas railroad routes intersected in Dallas in 1873, thus ensuring its future as a commercial center. The arrival of the trains also meant soaring populations — the population of Dallas shot from 3,000 in early 1872 to more than 7,000 in September of the same year. New buildings and new businesses appeared daily. Dallas was the epicenter of the markets for raw materials and commodity crops, such as grains and cotton, which were shipped to the South and East. It was also the "last chance" stop for supplies for people traveling west
caption: Map of central Dallas c. 1871
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