Cement

Cement or Cement City was on the Missouri Pacific Railroad three miles west of downtown Dallas, south of the Trinity River and north of the old site of La Réunion in central Dallas County. The community was named for the two cement plants, its largest employers. Émile Remond arrived from France in 1856, acquired property in the La Réunion colony tract after it dissolved in 1857, and began a brick-making business. Because of an interest in geology he began experimenting with the white rocks on the west bank of the Trinity and discovered in the late 1880s that the area was ideal for lime and cement manufacturing. He later started the Iola Cement Plant, which existed for only a short time.

Around 1901 a group of Galveston investors heard of the cement-making potential of the area and organized the Trinity Portland Cement Company. The Texas and Pacific ran through the area. In 1907 the company opened, and families moved in to work. A local post office operated from 1907 until 1915. At that time Cement had a population of 500, telephone connections, a physician, and grocery, drug, and general stores. A short time later Cement City High School was built. On November 15, 1928, the Cement City school system merged with the Dallas Independent School District.