Alexander Cockrell_Sarah Horton Cockrell
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Alexander Cockrell (June 8, 1820 - April 3, 1858) Sarah Horton Cockrell (Jan. 13, 1819 - April 26, 1892) Alexander Cockrell came to Dallas area in 1845. After serving in the war with Mexico (1846-47), he filed on 640 acres in the Peters Colony, and married Sarah Horton on Sept. 9, 1847. Cockress operated a freight line to Houston, Jefferson, and Shreveport until 1852, when he purchased remainder of the Dallas townsite from John Neely Bryan (1810 - 1877), the "Father of Dallas." Cockrell promoted growth of the village in the mid-1850s by building a brick factory, a sawmill, and a bridge across the Trinity River, replacing a ferry he had bought from Bryan. Cockrell's influence on Dallas' prosperity ended April 3, 1858, when he met an untimely death in an altercation over an unpaid debt. Sarah Horton Cockrell became the first woman in Dallas to exert economic influence outside the home. She completed the unfinished St. Nicholas Hotel, and rebuilt it after the fire of July 8, 1860; operated the ferry after the bridge collapsed in 1858 until a new span was erected in 1872; and, added a flour mill and other businesses to the community. The Cockrells' enterprises played a vital role in the establishment of Dallas as an early regional trade center. (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Alexander Cockrell arrived in the Dallas area in 1845, fought in the war with Mexico, and by 1852 had bought the remainder of the townsite from Dallas's founder, John Neely Bryan, building brickyards, a sawmill, and a Trinity River bridge. When he was killed over a debt in 1858, his wife Sarah Horton Cockrell took the reins, finishing the St. Nicholas Hotel, running the ferry, and adding a flour mill — becoming the first woman in Dallas to wield real economic power.
Why it matters
The Cockrells' enterprises helped turn a frontier village into a regional trade center, and Sarah's rise makes hers one of the landmark stories of women in nineteenth-century American business.
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Related people
- · Alexander Cockrell
- · Sarah Horton Cockrell
- · John Neely Bryan
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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