Cedar Springs
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Although settlement of the town of Cedar Springs did not begin until after 1843, the area had been surveyed during the late 1830s by Colonel G. W. Cooke in preparation for construction of a military road from Austin to the Red River. In 1843, Dr. John Cole and his wife, Mary, along with their eight children, arrived in this area. Cole received a Peters colony land grant about two miles east of the Cedar Springs branch of the Trinity River. Preferring to settle closer to the springs, he purchased additional acreage in this area, built a home, and opened a general store. The name of the community possibly was taken from the abundance of cedar trees near the springs. Cedar Springs gradually attracted additional settlers, and several other businesses, including a distillery, steam-powered flour mill, and grist mill, were begun. Development of the Cedar Springs community declined following Dallas' selection as the Dallas County Seat in 1850. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the area began to experience suburban growth and was renamed Oak Lawn. The site of the early town of Cedar Springs was annexed by the City of Dallas in a series of municipal actions between 1920 and 1940.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Surveyed in the late 1830s during preparations for a military road, the Cedar Springs area drew Dr. John Cole and his family in 1843 under a Peters colony land grant. Cole built a home and store near the springs, and a small community with a distillery, flour mill, and grist mill grew up around them. After Dallas was chosen county seat in 1850 the town faded, later revived as the suburb of Oak Lawn and absorbed into Dallas between 1920 and 1940.
Why it matters
Cedar Springs shows how the choice of a county seat could make one settlement and unmake another, and how early Texas hamlets were eventually swallowed by the cities they once rivaled.
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Related people
- · G. W. Cooke
- · John Cole
- · Mary Cole
Themes & tags
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