DALLAS

city, seat (1846) of Dallas county, northern Texas, U.S. It lies along the Trinity River near the junction of that river's three forks, in an area of prairie and gentle hills. Dallas is the state's second largest city (after Houston) and the metropolis of an urban complex that includes the cities of Farmers Branch, Garland, Grand Prairie, Highland Park, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, and University Park. Fort Worth is 33 miles (53 km) west. Dallas's winters are mild, but its summers are extremely hot. In 1841 John Neely Bryan built the first cabin in the area on the riverbank. The hamlet that grew there was probably named for George Mifflin Dallas, vice president (184549) of the United States. Its early settlement was augmented in 1858 by French and Swiss artisans from the unsuccessful Fourierist utopian colony at nearby La Runion. Commercial growth was stimulated by the arrival of the railroads in the 1870s. A huge wholesale market developed, with many of the city's retail stores serving the American Southwest; one, Neiman-Marcus, has become internationally known. Cotton fed the town's growth at first and was followed by oil and insurance. The Dallas Cotton Exchange was organized in 1907, and by the 1920s some 40 percent of the nation's cotton crop came from the black clay fields around Dallas. Cotton's importance in the city's economy has since declined, but the manufacture of cotton-ginning machinery remains important. On September 30, 1930, C.M. (Dad) Joiner discovered the great East Texas oil field, which attracted investment and made the city a major centre of the petroleum industry. Hundreds of oil companies are still headquartered in Dallas, as are many drilling-equipment supply firms and geophysical exploration firms. The city began a period of spectacular growth in the decades after World War II, when several large aircraft-manufacturing firms became located in the area. These were followed by electronics and automobile-assembly plants. The city is now the headquarters of more than 100 insurance companies. Dallas is the leading banking and financial centre for the Southwest, as well as the principal centre for publishing, printing, and advertising in that region. It is a leader in computer sciences and is an outstanding medical centre (the American Heart Association is headquartered there). The city's industry is now highly diversified and includes food processing and the manufacture of transportation equipment, machinery, and aircraft parts; clothing manufacture is important, and the city is known as a regional fashion and women's apparel centre. Dallas is a transportation and communications hub and is the world headquarters of the U.S. Army and Air Force Exchange Service. In 1973 the DallasFort Worth International Airport was opened. Dallas has a council-manager form of government that was established there in 1931. The John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza is near the spot where that president was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through the city in November 1963. Educational institutions in the area include Bishop College (1881), Dallas Baptist University (1898), Baylor College of Dentistry (1905), Southern Methodist University (1911), the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (1943), the University of Dallas (1956), El Centro College (1966), the University of Texas at Dallas (1969), and Richland College (1972). The city is known for its cultural activities, including opera, ballet, musicals, and symphony concerts, while the Dallas Theater Center is the only theatre building to have been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. There are recreational facilities around three large lakes north of Dallas from which the city draws its water supply. The State Fair Park contains extensive recreational facilities, including the Cotton Bowl (home of the annual collegiate gridiron-football classic), a music hall, museums of natural history and science, a planetarium, an aquarium, a garden centre, and the fairgrounds of one of the largest annual state expositions. Dallas also has a well-known zoo. Texas Stadium in Irving is the home of the Dallas Cowboys (American football), while the Texas Rangers (baseball) play at nearby Arlington Stadium. The Dallas Market Center complex (a wholesale trade centre) and the Sculpture Gardens in Dallas's arts district are outstanding among the city's impressive array of buildings. Inc. town, 1856; city, 1871. Pop. (1990) city, 1,007,618; Dallas PMSA, 2,676,248; DallasFort Worth CMSA, 4,037,282; (1994 est.) city, 1,022,830; (1995 est.) Dallas PMSA, 2,957,910; DallasFort Worth CMSA, 4,449,875.