East Dallas

East Dallas occupies an area in the city of Dallas bounded by Central Expressway to the west, Mockingbird Lane to the north, Loop 12 to the east, and Fair Park to the south. The Beeman family settled there in the 1860s, but only in 1872 did William H. Gaston begin promoting the forty-acre tract east of the city. Only four families settled there at the time, but with the coming of the railroads in 1872–73, a number of floaters came to work on the railroad and set up houses in the undeveloped area between Dallas and East Dallas. Gaston persuaded the railroads to go through East Dallas by giving them $5,000 and free right-of-way through his property. The Houston and Texas Central arrived at the Union Depot in East Dallas on July 16, 1872, and the Texas and Pacific on February 22, 1873. In the 1870s East Dallas became a popular recreation destination on the streetcar lines that ran from Dallas to the state fairs and the horse-racing track.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.