City Profile

Dallas was established in 1840/41as a small trading settlement on the banks of the Trinity River. Named after George Dallas, the vice president of the United States (late 1840s), Dallas has ballooned into a major regional city with a metropolitan population of more than 3 million people. Like many other early towns in America, the growth of Dallas didn't mushroom until the rail network hit town in the mid 1870s.

Cotton was a major industry, as was cotton machinery manufacturing, smaller industry, insurance and food processing. The big break for Dallas, however, came with the discovery of the great eastern Texas Oil field. This spurned a major exploration boom which saw oil become the key industry in Dallas. Dallas is well known as the set for the extremely popular, and long running TV series, "Dallas" and the Ewing family, particularly 'JR'. It is best known internationally as the city where President John F.Kennedy was gunned down by an assassins bullet in a motorcade through the city on November 22 1963. Ironically the tragedy led to the installation in the White House of favored Texas 'son' Lyndon B.Johnson, who was Vice President.

The city today is home for the headquarters of many large oil companies. It houses a number of exploration firms, drilling companies and petroleum related industry. It is a key financial center, world headquarters for the United States Army and Air Force Exchange programs, the American Heart Association and related medical facilities, and home for more than 100 insurance companies.