DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the City of East Dallas. Now settle in, because this is a story about a town that did everything right — and still got swallowed whole. The first permanent settlement in this area took root in the years before the Civil War.
The early faces you'd have recognized out here were farmer Jefferson Peak, banker and rancher W. H. Gaston, and two brothers-in-law who'd come a long way to build something new — Henry Boll and Jacob Nussbaumer, natives of Switzerland.
Picture that: men who grew up in the Alps planting their stakes two miles east of the Dallas County Courthouse. Then the railroads arrived in the 1870s, and that changed everything. Settlers came pourin' in.
European immigrants, folks drawn to Dallas looking for somewhere to put down roots — they moved eastward, and what grew up out here took on a life of its own. By 1882, the community was incorporated. East Dallas was a city.
And a proud one at that. It counted among its own Christopher C. Slaughter — prominent rancher, Baptist leader, a man of standing.
But the figure who really drove the engine of this place was George Crutcher, mayor of East Dallas for four years. Under Crutcher, the city established a safe water supply, built a good road system, and organized an independent school district. Right here at this very site, a combination schoolhouse and city hall was completed during his tenure.
Think about that — one building holding the future of the children and the business of the city all under the same roof. East Dallas was doing the work. It was building something meant to last.
And then, in 1889, the City of Dallas annexed it. Seven years as an independent city, and just like that — absorbed. Short life.
But what a life. The marker says it plainly: its history, while short, remains an important part of the area's heritage. Sometimes the towns that get taken over are the ones that proved they were worth taking.
What the marker says
The first permanent settlement in this area began in the years before the Civil War. Principal among the pioneers were farmer Jefferson Peak, banker and rancher W. H. Gaston, and brothers-in-law Henry Boll and Jacob Nussbaumer, who were natives of Switzerland. The arrival of the railroads in the 1870s brought an influx of settlers to the area. As European immigrants and others attracted to the City of Dallas moved eastward to find housing, the community that developed here, two miles east of the Dallas County Courthouse, was incorporated in 1882. East Dallas accomplished much in its short life as an independent entity. It was the home of many leading citizens, such as prominent rancher and Baptist leader Christopher C. Slaughter. George Crutcher, mayor of East Dallas for four years, led the city to establish a safe water supply, build a good road system, and organize an independent school district. The combination schoolhouse and city hall, which was located at this site, was completed during his tenure. East Dallas was annexed by the City of Dallas in 1889. Its history, while short, remains an important part of the area's heritage. 1984