A timeline of Dallas development & historic events

Texas declares independence from Mexico

1836

Also: First settlers arrive at Hord’s Ridge

John Neely Bryan arrives for first time

1839

Looks to establish trading post in three-forks region of North Texas

Bryan returns to establish settlement

1841

Likely named after Vice President George Mifflin Dallas

Town of Cedar Springs founded

1843

Established by Dr. John Cole and his family

Dallas County founded

1846

Dallas Herald begins publication

1849

James Latimer and William Wallace purchase the Texas Times, published in Paris, Texas, and move it to Dallas to become the Dallas Herald

Dallas selected as county seat

1850

Beating out Hord’s Ridge and Cedar Springs

La Reunion colony

1855

Victor Prosper Considerant establishes a socialist utopian colony in present-day West Dallas

Dallas granted town charter

1856

Also: Samuel Pryor was elected the first mayor along with a Marshal, a treasurer-recorder, and six aldermen

John M. Crockett elected mayor

1857

Becomes second elected mayor of Dallas; also: La Reunion dissolves and most of its settlers move to Dallas

First mass of record

1859

Celebrated at the home of Maxime Guillot, a French immigrant and carriage maker, with a priest and two other Catholics

Population of Dallas: 678

1860

Also: Patrick Jennings, Samuel Smith and a man known as Old Cato are blamed for starting a large fire and hanged near the river bottoms

Civil War begins

1861

Millermore House

1862

Built by William Miller’s slaves in present-day Oak Cliff

Civil War ends

1865

Also: Freedmen's Towns begin to appear north, east and south of Dallas; Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company (MKT) begins operation

First Ku Klux Klan emerges

1868

Born from the former Confederacy but forced to disband by the late 1870s; also: First Baptist Church of Dallas established; National Exchange Bank (later Mercantile National Bank) founded

Population of Dallas: 3,000

1870

Dallas incorporated as a city

1871

Houston & Texas Central Railway

1872

Also: Sanger brothers arrive from Corsicana to open their first store; first telegraph line reaches Dallas; construction begins on new county courthouse

Dallas' first opera house opens

1873

Also: First streetcars, pulled by Mexican mules, begin service; Panic of 1873 begins

Land obtained for City Park from J.J. Eakins

1875

Also: Dallas hosts its first Mardi Gras parade

Park system established

1876

John Neely Bryan (1810-1877)

1877

Declared mentally unfit and dies in an Austin insane asylum

Farmer John Martin claims UFO sighting

1878

First recorded use of the word "saucer" to describe an unidentified flying object. “It went as rapidly as it had come and was soon lost to sight in the heavenly skies.”

James M. Thurmond elected mayor

1879

Population of Dallas: 10,358

1880

Also: Mayor Thurmond removed by city council in a vote of no confidence

City Park established

1881

First public park in Dallas; Also: Telegraph and Telephone Company opens Dallas exchange with 40 telephone subscribers

Dallas Electric Lighting Company

1882

First to bring electricity to North Texas; Also: Robert E. Cowart shoots and kills Judge Thurmond

259 telephone subscribers citywide

1883

Fire Department purchases Old Tige

1884

600 gallons-per-minute pumper serves growing downtown area

Dallas Morning News

1885

Also: Dallas YMCA founded

First Dallas State Fair held at Fair Park

1886

Also: Hord's Ridge becomes Oak Cliff

Dallas Zoo established at City Park

1888

Also: Dallas Times Herald founded; Dallas Club opens on Commerce and Poydras Streets

U.S. Post Office (now Mercantile Building) completed

1889

Also: Volk Bros department store opens

Population of Dallas: 38,067

1890

Also: Belo Mansion, Dallas Brewing Co. and Linz Building open; East Dallas annexed into Dallas; artist Frank Reaugh moves to Dallas where his pastels of Texas prairie and cattle would become iconic

Trinity River Navigation Company

1891

Formed to promote river traffic on the Trinity

Old Red Courthouse

1892

Panic of 1893

1893

Numerous business fail, including five local banks

Old Parkland Hospital

1894

Oriental Hotel

1895

Confederate Memorial dedicated in City Park

1896

Also: Plessy v. Ferguson case establishes doctrine of "separate but equal"

Cornerstone ceremony at St. Paul's Sanitarium

1897

Southern Rock Island Plow Company

1898

Constructs a 5-story building at the northwest corner of Houston and Elm St that would eventually become the Texas School Book Depository (now Dallas County Administration Building)

Ned Green brings 1st automobile to Dallas

1899

Orders Phaeton from St. Louis, arriving on the Texas Midland complete with driver; Also: Herbert Marcus arrives in Dallas to work for Sanger Brothers; Kaliph Day celebrated in the streets of Dallas

Population of Dallas: 42,639

1900

Also: first W.A. Green dept. store opens; Texas and Oklahoma football teams play the first game of what becomes a yearly tradition

Carnegie Library & Kress Building

1901

Also: Investors form the Trinity Portland Cement Company to manufacture cement north of the former La Reunion site

Brown Cracker & Candy Co.

1902

Later known as West End Marketplace, now Factory Six03; Also: Southern Rock Island Plow Company rebuilds its structure on Elm and Houston St after a fire caused by lightning; Cullum & Boren opens at 1509 Elm

Annexation of Oak Cliff

1903

Expands City of Dallas size by one third.

City purchases Fair Park for $125,000

1904

Also: Wilson Building and Majestic Hotel (now Ambassador) open; population of Richardson: 147

Purse Building

1905

Also: Columbian Club is established by Dallas Jewish community in the Cedars; world's first 100-mile auto race hosted at Fair Park

Mangold opens Lake Cliff amusement park

1906

Also: Scottish Rite Cathedral opens; John S. Armstrong establishes Highland Park; Frogtown becomes city's red light district; John Patrick Murphy builds a home at 2516 Maple Avenue that would later become the Hotel St. Germain

Dallas High School (Crozier Tech)

1907

Also: Hotel Southland opens on Main near Murphy St.

Trinity floods, causing massive destruction

1908

Also: Elks Arch erected at Main & Akard in honor of Elks Lodge Convention; Cement City incorporates

Praetorian Building

1909

Also: Turtle Creek Pump Station opens; city purchases Marsalis Park and Oak Lawn Park; first interurban car arrives in Dallas from Denison; first Fair Park replica of the Alamo opens to the public

Population of Dallas: 92,104

1910

Also: Allen Brooks lynched by angry mob; city zoo relocates to Fair Park from City Park; construction of White Rock Lake begins in response to citywide water shortage; population of Cement City: 503

Elks Arch dismantled

1911

Also: Butler Brothers Building opens; Magnolia sales & distribution center (now Magnolia Station Lofts) opens; Southern Methodist University established; White Rock Lake completed

Oak Cliff Viaduct & Kessler Plan

1912

Also: City zoo relocates to Marsalis Park; Summit Play Park (now Pike Park) opens; Washington Theater, Adolphus Hotel, Southwestern Life Insurance Building open

Red light district dissolved

1913

Also: Queen Theatre (later Leo Theatre, now 1501 Elm), Busch Building (now Kirby Building), Dallas City Hall (now Municipal Building), Old Mill Theatre (later Rialto Theatre, now LTV Tower), Hippodrome Theatre, White Swan Foods Co (now House of Blues), McKinney Avenue Baptist Church (later Hard Rock Cafe, now One Uptown) open.

Neiman Marcus Building (Main & Ervay)

1914

Also: Monroe Shops (interurban maintenance facility) open; city purchases Lake Cliff Park from Charles Mangold for $55,000

“Public comfort stations” at Elm & Live Oak

1915

Also: Hall Street Negro Park (now Griggs Park) opens; Henry D. Lindsley elected mayor; inspired by "The Birth of a Nation", second Klan emerges in the South and spreads to urban centers throughout the nation

Union Station & Interurban Building

1916

Future mayor and Klan member R.L. Thornton establishes Mercantile National Bank; Knights of Pythias Temple, first large commercial building designed by a black architect (William Sidney Pittman), opens

Dallas Love Field (military airfield)

1917

Also: Hotel Jefferson opens; Texas Electric Railway interurban service begins; Dallas Power & Light founded

Mike Martinez opens El Fenix

1918

Also: Siren atop the Adolphus Hotel announces the end of the Great War

Old Red bell tower removed

1919

Out of fear that structural failure would occur; Also: Frank W. Wozencraft elected mayor, youngest in city's history at age 26

Population of Dallas: 158,976

1920

Also: Boedeker Ice Cream Plant (now Cedars Union) opens; WRR radio begins broadcasting; State Fair attendance exceeds 1 million for the first time

Federal Reserve Bank

1921

Also: New Majestic Theater, Palace Theater (now Thanksgiving Tower) open; only five residences remain in the Harwood Historic district around City Hall; 789 members of Ku Klux Klan No. 66 march through Main and Elm; Alex Johnson, a black bellhop at the Adolphus, is branded with the letters KKK using acid

Magnolia Oil Building

1922

Also: Melba Theater (later Capri, now Pacific Place), Capitol Theater (now Tower Garage), Fox Theater (now 1401 Elm), Booker T. Washington High School and North Dallas High School open; radio station WFAA begins transmitting; Busch Building renamed the Kirby Building

Medical Arts Building & Stoneleigh Hotel

1923

Also: Klan Day at the State Fair of Texas attracts an estimated 160,000 Klansmen; Dallas Klan establishes Hope Cottage, an orphanage in North Dallas

Santa Fe Terminal Complex

1924

Also: Thomas Building (now surface parking) and Melrose Hotel open; Elmwood Addition suburb opens south of Oak Cliff; Gardner Park (later Burnett Field) established; 1,000 Klan members march through Oak Cliff

Baker Hotel & Ferris Plaza

1925

Also: Conrad Hilton (later White Plaza, now Hotel Indigo), Republic National Bank Building (now The Davis Building), Dallas Athletic Club (now 1700 Pacific), Scott Hotel (later Hotel Lawrence, now La Quinta) open; Beckley Club suburb and Sunset High School open in Oak Cliff; Hope Cottage renamed "Klanhaven"; "Little Mexico" established by Mexican immigrants; Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce founded; first multi-level parking garage opens; Cotton mogul Sheppard King's estate on Turtle Creek opens

Cotton Exchange Building

1926

Also: 9-year-old boy drowns from flooding in Mill Creek; Sanger Hotel built on the site of Alex Sanger mansion

Dallas National Bank

1927

Also: Gulf States Building (now Third Rail Lofts), Neiman Marcus addition and Maple Terrace open; Southland Ice Co. opens the first convenience store (later 7-Eleven) on 12th Street in Oak Cliff; Charles Lindbergh arrives at Love Field Airport in the "Spirit of St. Louis", airport opens for civilian use; City Council names a street after Lindbergh; Prince of Hamburgers opens on Lemmon Ave

Woodrow Wilson High School

1928

Also: Industrial Dallas, Inc. formed to promote favorable business climate of Dallas; "Coney Island" style amusement park proposed for White Rock Lake, igniting controversy

Titche-Goettinger Building

1929

Also: Lake Dallas (now Lake Lewisville) completed; Dallas ceases use of White Rock Lake for water supply; survey finds that Dallas contains 31 buildings 10-20 stories high and 1 over 20 stories

Population of Dallas: 260,475

1930

Also: Volk Brothers Building (now Comerica Bank) and Cotton Bowl Stadium open; Columbian Club destroyed in fire; Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow meet in West Dallas for the first time; White Rock Lake Bath House opens; Geophysical Services Inc. (later Texas Instruments) founded; 508 Park opens as the Warner Brothers Exchange Building for films and records

Tower Petroleum Building and Dallas Power & Light

1931

Also: Lone Star Gas Co., Highland Park Village and Texas Theatre open; Kiest Park opens on land donated by Edwin John Kiest, publisher of the Dallas Times Herald; City Manager form of government established

First Trinity River levees built

1932

Also: Washington Theater is demolished; Texas and Oklahoma game moves to Cotton Bowl at Fair Park; Bonnie Parker leaves home in Dallas to begin a life of crime with Clyde Barrow

Lamar-McKinney Viaduct

1933

Later known as Continental Viaduct, now Ronald Kirk Pedestrian Bridge; also: City of Dallas begins burying Mill Creek from East Dallas through City Park

Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow buried in Dallas

1934

Killed by police in Louisiana on May 23; Also: Final horse race at Fair Park takes place; Sportatorium built on Cadiz and Industrial

First Fair Park replica of the Alamo razed

1935

Also: First federal WPA project in Dallas commences

Texas Centennial Exposition

1936

Also: FDR dedicates statue of Robert E. Lee at Oak Lawn Park (later Lee Park, now Oak Lawn Park)

Robert Johnson records at 508 Park

1937

Also: First Cotton Bowl Classic game held at Cotton Bowl Stadium; R.L. Thornton establishes the Dallas Citizens Council

Lakewood Theater

1938

Also: Hilton Hotel becomes White Plaza

Dal-Hi (later P.C. Cobb) Stadium

1939

Also: Abe Weinstein's Colony Club opens

Population of Dallas: 294,734

1940

Also: Dealey Plaza opens; National Exchange Bank building at Main and Poydras demolished

Dallas Farmers Market established

1941

Also: Masonic Temple and Telenews Theater open; City Council changes name of Lindbergh Drive to Skillman Street after reports that he is a Nazi sympathizer; Pearl Harbor attacked

Mercantile National Bank

1942

Only Dallas high-rise completed during WWII

War rationing begins citywide

1943

Also: UT Southwestern Medical School is established; Mayor Woodall Rodgers commissions new city master plan titled "Your Dallas of Tomorrow”

Edward Titche (1866–1944)

1944

Also: First of 300 German POWs arrive at Winfrey Point on White Rock Lake

Streamlined streetcars begin service

1945

Also: Ebby Halliday Realtors founded; WWII ends

"Bonnie Barge" at White Rock Lake

1946

Also: Dallas Parks Department regains control of White Rock Lake from the Army; oilman Rogers Lacy commissions Frank Lloyd Wright to design an 826-room hotel on Commerce across from Neiman Marcus

Jack Ruby arrives in Dallas

1947

Also: Comet Coaster at Fair Park opens; Mayfair Department Store opens at 141 Elm; construction begins on Central Expressway; plans for Frank Lloyd Wright hotel dropped

Texas Electric Railway service ends

1948

Also: Mercantile Continental Building opens; Angus Wynne's Wynnewood Shopping Village opens east of Elmwood in Oak Cliff

Dallas Morning News Building

1949

Also: WFAA-TV and and KRLD-TV begin broadcasting; Cotton Bowl expanded to 75,504 seats

Population of Dallas: 434,462

1950

Also: First segment of Central Expressway opens; "Papa" Campisi opens Campisi's in former Egyptian Lounge on Mockingbird Ln.

Second Fair Park replica of the Alamo razed

1951

Central Expressway to Mockingbird Lane

1952

Also: Fidelity Union Life (now Mosaic Apartments) opens; West Dallas is annexed by City of Dallas; Zoo Bar opens at 1600 Commerce; first Crystal Charity Ball held; Big Tex debuts at the State Fair of Texas; White Rock Bathing Beach opens for last time

Swimming banned at White Rock Lake

1953

Also: Leo Theater closes; R.L. Thornton begins first of four terms as mayor of Dallas; State Fair midway opens to all races except for two rides in which blacks and whites could potentially touch

Republic Center Tower

1954

Also: Former Republic National Bank building renamed The Davis Building; Brown v. Board of Education decision declares segregation in public schools unconstitutional

Central Library (now The Dallas Morning News)

1955

Also: Leo Theater demolished; Piccadilly Cafeteria and Meadows Building open; black community protests continued segregation at fairgrounds

Statler Hilton

1956

Also: Central Expressway expands to Richardson; Elvis Presley performs at Cotton Bowl Stadium; University of Dallas opens; final Dallas streetcar runs from Oak Cliff to car barn at Peak and Elm, ending service citywide; Oak Cliff votes itself "dry"

Tornado rips through Dallas, killing 10

1957

Also: Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike, Dallas Federal Savings and Loan (now 1505 Elm) and Dallas Memorial Auditorium open; Capitol Theater begins showing Spanish-language films, then closes; Coco Chanel arrives in Dallas to accept the Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion; Dallas Market Center founded

Southland Center

1958

Also: 211 N Ervay opens; Mercantile Continental Building expands; Jack Kilby creates the world's first integrated circuit at a Dallas laboratory in September

Kalita Humphreys Theater

1959

Also: Fire destroys Rialto Theater; Capitol Theater demolished; Hartford Building opens; I-35 construction cuts Dallas Zoo from the heart of Oak Cliff

Population of Dallas: 679,684

1960

Also: Dallas Cowboys begin playing at Cotton Bowl Stadium; Trinity levees raised to present height; Jack Ruby opens the Carousel Club; Strand (formerly Hippodrome), Rialto and Capitol Theaters demolished for parking

Six Flags Over Texas

1961

Also: "State Fair", starring Ann Margaret, films in Fair Park; The Frito Company and H.W. Lay & Company merge to become Frito-Lay, Inc., headquartered in Dallas; Confederate Memorial relocated from Old City Park to Pioneer Cemetery for construction of R.L. Thornton Expressway; Theatre Three established; FAA refuses to invest in separate Dallas and Fort Worth airports, prompting discussions for a jointly owned airport

Cabaña Hotel

1962

Also: Bronco Bowl opens; Fox Burlesque theater demolished; H. Ross Perot founds Electronic Data Systems (EDS); construction of Cary Plaza (now Fairmont Hotel) halted

President Kennedy assassinated

1963

Also: Mary Kay Cosmetics founded; Hotel Southland demolished; Adair's Saloon opens on Cedar Springs Rd.; President Kennedy visits Fort Worth and Dallas; eyewitnesses place officer J.D. Tippit at Austin’s Barbecue in the Elmwood neighborhood; Lee H. Oswald murders Tippit and is arrested inside the Texas Theatre; Jack Ruby shoots Oswald in basement of City Hall (Municipal Building); Ruby asks to meet with Campisi family while in police custody

The Beatles at Memorial Auditorium

1964

Also: Fire consumes The Golden Pheasant on Commerce St, killing 4; Piccadilly Cafeteria is picketed for 28 days for refusing to desegregate its lunch counter; 1600 Pacific (LTV Tower) and Republic Center Tower 2 open; Burnett Field closes; Southwestern Life Insurance moves to a new building on Ross Ave designed by George Dahl; Civil Rights Act ends segregation

NorthPark Center

1965

Also: First National Bank (now The Drever), Sanger-Harris flagship store and Mayflower Building (411 N Akard) open; I-35 is completed from Dallas to Oklahoma border; Hotel Travis (formerly Sanger Hotel) demolished for new City Hall; Stone Place Pedestrianway opens as city's first pedestrian mall

Elm Street caves in during construction

1966

Also: Manor House (first downtown residential high-rise) and El Centro College open in CBD; The Quadrangle opens in Oak Lawn; historic Millermore home in Oak Cliff threatened with demolition; Dallas and Fort Worth purchase land for a new airport that is equidistant from both cities; Fairmont buys half-finished Cary Plaza and completes the project as twin hotel towers; Cullum & Boren opens "store in a garden" at 1609 Bryan

I-35 completed from Dallas to Austin

1967

Also: Harvey Milk arrives in Dallas to work at the Mercantile Continental Building for Bache & Co.; DISD announces that it is fully desegregated; Tower Garage opens on site of Capitol Theater

Dallas pedestrian network planned

1968

Also: Tower Theatre closes; One Main Place opens; Braniff Airlines opens the "Terminal of the Future" at Dallas Love Field; St. Paul's Sanitarium demolished; Fair Housing Act makes redlining illegal; City Council OKs plan to expand Fair Park by acquiring 50 acres of land from mostly minority residents

Millermore moves to City Park

1969

Construction of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport begins; Holiday Inn (now Crowne Plaza) and Loews Theater (first new downtown theater in 30 years) open; 32-acre Griffin Square, including a 913-ft-tall circular office tower, announced to the public

Population of Dallas: 844,401

1970

Also: Palace Theater is demolished; JFK Memorial is dedicated; One Main Place developer W. T. Overton murdered, halting plans for Two Main Place

Union Jack opens on Cedar Springs Rd.

1971

First gay-owned business in what would become the city's LGBT district; Also: inspired by the Slurpee machine at 7-Eleven, Mariano Martinez invents the frozen margarita machine; Southwest Airlines begins scheduled flights out of Love Field

Cowboys win their first Super Bowl

1972

Also: Spaghetti Warehouse opens in the West End and The Grape opens on Greenville Ave; Southwestern Life Insurance Building is demolished; 1200 Main Tower (now Metropolitan condominiums) opens; first gay rights march takes place through downtown; first Candlelight holiday celebration at Old City Park

Santos Rodriguez murdered by Dallas police

1973

Also: Bryan Tower, I-345, Jefferson Viaduct and Dallas Convention Center open; Majestic Theatre and Volk’s department store close; more structures arrive at Dallas Heritage Village including Worth Hotel and Train Depot; Swiss Avenue becomes the first historic district in Dallas

DFW International Airport

1974

Also: Renaissance Tower opens; first Cattle Baron's Ball held; Fair Park-area homeowners settle or lose appeals in fight against eminent domain; Dallas Federal Savings (1505 Elm) sells to Dresser Industries for HQ; Akard Street Pedestrianway opens between Commerce and Young; Dallas is 3rd, behind New York and Chicago, in convention business

West End Historic District created

1975

Also: First Chili’s opens on Greenville Ave; downtown daytime population reaches 300,000 workers; Gene Street opens Black-eyed Pea on Cedar Springs Rd; Red Bird Mall opens in south Oak Cliff; Julius Schepps Park established; Jefferson Hotel is demolished

Thanks-Giving Square

1976

Also: DISD begins its desegregation-era busing plan for grades four through eight; Booker T. Washington HS becomes an arts magnet school; City Park becomes Old City Park and hosts the official U.S. Bicentennial celebration for the city

Modernization of emergency dispatch systems

1977

Also: KXAS-TV airs first live intercontinental satellite report from London to Dallas/Fort Worth

“Dallas” TV show airs

1978

Also: Dallas City Hall, Reunion Tower and Anatole Hotel open; Union Station is renovated; Belo Mansion is restored & expanded; Boston consultants Carr-Lynch recommend that Dallas relocate its major arts institutions from different parts of the city to the northeast corner of downtown; Dallas Architectural Club, Mayfair Hotel and Medical Arts buildings are demolished; first Texxas Jam concert takes place at Cotton Bowl Stadium

Wright Amendment becomes law

1979

Also: One Dallas Centre (later Patriot Tower, now One Dallas Center) and Enserch Plaza (now Lone Star Gas Lofts) open; American Airlines moves its HQ from New York to a temporary facility in Grand Prairie; Rosewood Property Company converts Sheppard King estate into The Mansion on Turtle Creek; Baker Hotel sold to SBC Corporation and closes; Dorsey Building (now McDonald's) demolished

Baker Hotel & Volk Building demolished

1980

Also: Plaza of the Americas, Diamond Shamrock Tower (later KPMG Centre), Reunion Arena and Republic Center Tower III open; City Council votes to abandon Live Oak between Elm and Pacific, closing 5-way intersection; American Exchange National Bank (original First National Bank) is demolished; Kress store and Copper Cow close; JR's Bar & Grill, Round-Up Saloon open on Cedar Springs Rd; deregulation of Savings & Loans begins; Dallas Population: 904,078

Dallas Athletic Club demolished

1981

Also: Kress Building and P.C. Cobb Stadium are demolished; USS Dallas, a nuclear submarine named after the city, is commissioned

Braniff Airlines ceases operations

1982

Also: Dave & Buster's opens first store at Walnut Hill and N Stemmons; City of Dallas acquires "Lost Copy" of the Declaration of Independence to display at Central Library

PART 2: Galleria Dallas

1983

Also: Thanksgiving Tower, Pacific Place, Lincoln Plaza (now Ross Tower), Olympia & York Tower (now Harwood Center), San Jacinto Tower (now 2100 Ross), ARCO Tower (now Energy Plaza) and J. Erik Jonsson Central Library open; Sasaki Plan for Arts District is adopted by city council; region votes to create DART and a 1% sales tax to fund it

PART 1: Woodall Rodgers Freeway & DART

1983

Also: Majestic Theatre is restored & reopened; First City Center (now 1700 Pacific), Woodall Rodgers Freeway and The Palm restaurant open; Rolex Building is the first building in new Harwood District; Stephan Pyles opens Routh Street Cafe; 60 Klan members march through Main Street; American Airlines moves to its permanent HQ in Fort Worth; Adair's relocates from Cedar Springs Rd. to Deep Ellum

Fair Park hosts Dallas Grand Prix

1984

Also: DMA moves to the Arts District; Starck Club and One Bell Plaza (now One AT&T Plaza) open; Republican National Convention hosted at the Dallas Convention Center; developer Jim Lake begins buying properties in what will become the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff

InterFirst Plaza (BofA Plaza)

1985

Also: Chase Tower, LTV Center (now Trammel Crow Center), Belo Building (now 400 Record) and Infomart open; Selena Quintanilla performs at the State Fair of Texas; Texas Star opens in Fair Park; Lincoln Property Company demolishes Esquire Theater; Walt Disney Company conducts a feasibility study for "Texposition" in the Cityplace area; Cine Central 3 (formerly Loews Theater) opens; Club Clearview opens in Deep Ellum

Robocop filmed in Dallas

1986

Also: Dallas Alley opens in the West End; Fountain Place & The Crescent open; LTV Corporation files for bankruptcy (largest in U.S. history); Comet Coaster at Fair Park closes; Russell “Rusty” Fenton opens Uncle Julio's on Lemmon Ave, replacing The Unicorn bar; 36 arrested in raid at Starck Club

"The Accommodation" by Jim Schutze

1987

Also: Joske’s, formerly Titche's, closes; DART begins developing massive light-rail system; Annette Strauss becomes the first female mayor of Dallas; Momentum Place (Comerica Tower) opens; J.C. Penney announces plans to move HQ from New York to Plano; Hilton Corp. sells Statler Hilton to a Hong Kong investment group

Cityplace Tower

1988

Also: Santa Fe Building No. 3 is demolished; Delta Flight 1141 crashes upon takeoff from DFW Airport, killing 14 of the 108 people on board; Born on the Fourth of July filmed in Oak Cliff; Dream Cafe opens in the Quadrangle; DPD officer Officer John Glenn murdered by vagrant on Commerce St on a Saturday morning; final Texxas Jam concert at Cotton Bowl Stadium

Meyerson Symphony Center

1989

Also: MATA streetcar begins service in newly rebranded "Uptown" area of Oak Lawn; Starck Club and Sanger-Harris close; Feds seize 20 subsidiaries of MCorp, formerly Mercantile National Bank

Population of Dallas: 1,006,877

1990

Also: Oak Cliff native Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash

Adoption of 14-1 city council system

1991

Also: Dallas Morning News purchases and ends publication of Dallas Times Herald; Meridian Apartments (now Post Meridian) open in "Uptown"; Club One opens in Deep Ellum, one of 57 bars and nightclubs in the flourishing district; “Dallas” TV show ends; Queen Elizabeth II visits Dallas with a stay at the Adolphus; Statler Hilton renamed Dallas Grand Hotel; Van Halen performs a free concert in the West End for crowds of up to 40,000 people

Uptown PID established

1992

Also: Tillman's Corner opens in Bishop Arts District

24 arrested at Cowboys parade riot

1993

Also: Final office tenants leave Mercantile National Bank, leaving the historic commercial building vacant; Union Pacific Railroad donates abandoned MKT lines to City of Dallas; West End Cinema and Target Cityplace open

Pegasus Plaza

1994

Built on the footprint of demolished Southwestern Life building;
Also: Cotton Exchange is demolished; Dallas hosts two games of the FIFA World Cup at Cotton Bowl Stadium

Ron Kirk elected first black mayor of Dallas

1995

Also: Crozier Tech closes; only 200 residents live inside the boundaries of the CBD

DART begins light-rail service

1996

Also: Downtown TIF is established; first segment of Trinity Railway Express opens; Olla Podrida market closes

H.L. Green closes after 70 years

1997

Also: Jefferson North End opens; Titche-Goettinger Building converted to 1900 Elm Lofts; Shelby Amendment begins easing flight restrictions on Love Field; Erykah Badu releases Baduizm, reaching triple Platinum status

Trinity River Corridor Project bond election

1998

Also: Southland Center reopens as Adam’s Mark Hotel; White Rock Lake dredged at a cost of $9M

Expanded Central Expressway opens

1999

Also: Wilson and Kirby are converted to apartments; Magnolia Hotel opens

Population of Dallas: 1,188,580

2000

Also: Pegasus sign atop Magnolia Building is restored; West End Cinema 10 closes; Katy Trail and Cityplace DART station (first subway in the Southwest) open; Mark Cuban buys majority stake in Dallas Mavericks; city abandons Poydras St. to McDonald’s Corp for a drive-thru; Austin's BBQ closes

Boeing chooses Chicago over Dallas

2001

Also: American Airlines Center, West Village (Cityplace West) and Mockingbird Station (first modern TOD in Texas) open; Planet Hollywood closes in the West End; Dallas Grand Hotel closes; 1505 Elm sold for first office-to-condo conversion in Dallas

Laura Miller elected mayor

2002

Also: Hotel ZaZa and first MATA streetcar expansion open; Hatties opens in the Bishop Arts District; final two Dallas Alley bars, Alley Cats and Oxygen, close; Stone Place Mall reopens as Stone Street Gardens

Nasher Sculpture Center

2003

Also: Davis Building is converted to loft apartments; Hart Furniture Bldg is renovated; Latino Cultural Center and WFAA Plaza open; Sportatorium demolished

DP&L Flats

2004

Also: Lupe Valdez wins election to become first female, Hispanic and LGBT Dallas County Sheriff; Dallas County "turns blue", becoming majority Democratic

Interurban Lofts

2005

Also: Dallas Holocaust Museum moves to the West End from North Dallas; Belmont Hotel reopens in West Dallas; Baby Doe’s on Goat Hill closes and is demolished; Old City Park renamed "Dallas Heritage Village"; 1200 Main converted to 283 residences; Forest City Enterprises announces plans to convert the vacant Mercantile Bank into 225 apartments; Prince of Hamburgers on Lemmon Ave demolished

Apparel Mart demolished

2006

Also: West End Marketplace closes; MKT depot is demolished; Arcadia Theater is destroyed in a fire; W Dallas Victory Hotel opens; a compromise is reached for partial repeal of the Wright Amendment; IHG purchases White Plaza Hotel and reopens it as Hotel Indigo

One Arts Plaza

2007

Also: Joule Hotel opens; Republic Center Tower 1 is converted to Gables Republic; Metropolitan, Mosaic, Third Rail Lofts open; Adam’s Mark becomes Sheraton; White Swan is converted to House of Blues; Deep Ellum Tunnel is demolished; Old Red restoration completed along with new bell tower

AT&T moves global headquarters to Dallas

2008

Also: Trinity Audubon Center opens; Hewlett-Packard Co. buys EDS for $13.9 billion; Eno's Pizza opens in Bishop Arts District

Reunion Arena demolished

2009

Also: Mercantile Bank is converted to Mercantile Place; Santa Fe No. 4 is converted to Aloft Dallas Hotel; Main Street Garden, AT&T Performing Arts Center (Winspear Opera House, Wyly Theater) and Cowboys (now AT&T) Stadium open; city privatizes Dallas Zoo, ceding control to Dallas Zoological Society

Population of Dallas: 1,197,816

2010

Also: Final office tenants leave 1401 Elm; Cotton Bowl Classic moves to Cowboys (AT&T) Stadium in Arlington; Giants of the Savannah exhibit opens at Dallas Zoo

North Texas hosts Super Bowl XLV

2011

Also: Historic ice storm paralyzes city; Omni Dallas Hotel opens

Klyde Warren Park, Perot, Museum Tower

2012

Also: City Performance Hall, Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and Belo Garden open; downtown CBD population is 7,000 residents; Thomas Building is demolished; DALLAS television series rebooted; Big Tex destroyed in fire caused by electrical short

Mercantile Continental apartments

2013

Also: Dallas observes the 50th anniversary of JFK assassination; Age of Steam Museum leaves Fair Park for a new home in Frisco after a dispute with the City of Dallas; TENOVERSIX opens on Main Street; city privatizes Dallas Farmers Market; Mayor Rawlings assembles Fair Park Task Force to examine the future of Fair Park

Post-Wright Love Field service begins

2014

Also: One Dallas Center apartments open; DART expands service to DFW Airport; Continental Pedestrian Bridge opens; Toyota announces that it will move its North American HQ to Plano; Dallas becomes site of the first case of the Ebola Virus in the United States

Streetcar service returns to Oak Cliff

2015

Also: Hall Arts Center, LTV Tower Apartments, New Parkland Hospital and Westin Dallas Downtown open; Downtown CBD population: 8,200

5 officers killed in downtown ambush

2016

Also: McKinney & Olive, Dallas Streetcar phase 2 and Mayflower Apartments open; Mayor Rawlings announces $50M gift to kickstart Trinity River park, largest donation in city's history

Lee statue removed from Oak Lawn Park

2017

Also: The Statler Residendes, Margaret McDermott Bridge, SkyHouse Victory Place, The Ascent, Katy Station, PWC Tower at Park District all open; Dallas voters approve $1B bond program; plans for Trinity Parkway scrapped; The Palm restaurant closes; downtown CBD population: 10.7K residents

Statler Hotel & Residences

2018

Also: 1900 Pacific (Corrigan Tower) residences, Cambria Hotel, Courtyard Marriott open; Dallas Morning News relocates to former library; Doug's Gym closes

Pacific Plaza

2019

Also: Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum opens; Spaghetti Warehouse closes

AT&T Discovery District & Thompson Hotel

2020