Dallas County, Texas: History and Information

Dallas County is a county located in the state of Texas. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 2,368,139. It is the second-most populous county in Texas and the ninth-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Dallas, which is also the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest city in the United States. The county was founded in 1846 and was possibly named for George Mifflin Dallas, the 11th Vice President of the United States under US President James K. Polk.

Dallas County is included in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area (colloquially referred to as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex).

Etymology - Origin of Dallas County Name

Demographics:

Dallas County History

Its county seat is Dallas, which is also the largest city in the county, the third-largest city in Texas, and the ninth-largest city in the United States. Dallas County is the most populous county within the metropolitan area and contains the largest of its principal cities. The county was named in honor of George Mifflin Dallas, the eleventh vice president of the United States.

Handbook of Texas Online
In 1845 voters in the future Dallas County approved the annexation of Texas to the United States by a vote of 29 to 3. On March 30, 1846, Dallas County was officially formed by order of the state legislature from portions of Nacogdoches and Robertson counties, and named probably for George Mifflin Dallas, vice president of the United States under James K. Polk (see DALLAS, TEXAS). At Dallas, the temporary county seat, a log cabin was built to serve as a courthouse. In 1850 an election was held to find a permanent county seat. A runoff election was held after the first vote yielded 191 votes for Dallas, 178 for Hord's Ridge, and 101 for Cedar Springs. Dallas beat Hord's Ridge 244 to 216 in the runoff. By 1850 Dallas County had a population of 2,743, and by 1860 the number of residents had almost tripled to 8,665. Though the slave population rose faster than the white population, Dallas County had fewer slaves than some other Texas counties. In 1850 the 207 slaves were 8 percent of the population, but by 1860 slaves constituted 12 percent of the population. These 1,074 slaves were owned by 228 slaveholders. In 1850 the county had two churches and ten one-teacher public schools with a total of 170 pupils. The population resided on 278 farms with a value of $175,502. The largest crop was corn, with 94,870 bushels, and cotton was a minor crop with only 44 bales. Cotton was originally grown primarily for home use, but by 1849 Farmers Branch had the first cotton gin in the county. By 1860 wheat was a major Dallas County crop, and many gristmills had been constructed to grind the grain. In 1850 stockmen raised more hogs (6,089) than cattle, but by 1860 cattle numbered 35,431 and sheep 20,974, while hogs numbered only 16,113. More at
Lisa C. Maxwell, "DALLAS COUNTY," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcd02), accessed January 23, 2016. Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 908 square miles (2,352 km²), of which, 880 square miles (2,279 km²) of it is land and 29 square miles (75 km²) of it (3.19%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Education

The following school districts serve Dallas County:

Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD (partly in Denton County)
Cedar Hill ISD
Coppell ISD
Dallas ISD
DeSoto ISD
Duncanville ISD
Ferris ISD (mostly in Ellis County)
Garland ISD
Grand Prairie ISD
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD (mostly in Tarrant County)
Highland Park ISD
Irving ISD
Lancaster ISD
Mesquite ISD
Richardson ISD
Sunnyvale ISD

Texas State

Texas Counties