An Introduction to Dallas... Dallas is the ninth-largest city in the USA and covers a vast 995 sq km (384 sq miles). It is located in North Central Texas, 56km (35 miles) east of Fort Worth and 483km (300 miles) north of the Gulf of Mexico, in an area where the three forks of the Trinity River merge. The area marks the upper boundary of the Coastal Plains, with lakes, plantations and pine forests to the east and broad plains to the north. Dallas is a young city, founded as a trading post as late as 1841 by John Neely Bryan, a lawyer from Tennessee. After the construction of the railroad in 1870, the city experienced rapid growth based on income from the cattle ranching industry. The real boom came in the 1930s, however, when C M ‘Dad’ Joiner struck oil 161km (100 miles) east of the city. Dallas became the financial and technical centre for drilling on the East Texas Oil Field and economic success was assured.

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