Dallas County Map - Vintage 1886 Official County Map by Murphy & Bolanz

Discover the Birth of Modern Dallas

Step back into the Gilded Age of Texas with this extraordinary 1886 Dallas County Map created by Murphy & Bolanz, one of the most respected surveying and real estate firms of their time. This masterfully detailed map captures Dallas County at the height of its 19th-century transformation, when railroads, commerce, and urban expansion were reshaping North Texas into the economic heart of the Southwest. Every township, parcel, and property line tells the story of a region evolving from pastoral farmland into a modern metropolis on the rise.

Historical Significance

By 1886, Dallas County had become a center of opportunity and ambition. The arrival of multiple major rail lines connected Dallas to markets across the United States, ushering in an era of unprecedented growth and prosperity. This map documents the county during that crucial turning point—when the once-quiet prairie began to buzz with industry, agriculture, and trade. It reveals the foundation of communities that would soon flourish, from the bustling downtown streets of Dallas to the surrounding agricultural towns that supported its rise. Every line and survey bears witness to the optimism that defined post-Reconstruction Texas and the energy that propelled Dallas toward its future as a regional powerhouse.

Cartographic Excellence

Murphy & Bolanz were renowned for their precision, and this map showcases their unmatched craftsmanship. Produced with exacting attention to detail, it outlines every property boundary, township, and railway with remarkable clarity. The accuracy of their surveys was legendary—so reliable that their plats were used by developers, bankers, and landowners for decades. This edition highlights the intricate network of railroads, rivers, and roadways that converged on Dallas, offering a complete visual record of a county poised between its frontier past and metropolitan future.

The Spirit of Progress

Beyond its technical beauty, this map embodies the ambition and confidence of a city on the rise. Dallas County in 1886 was a symbol of Texas ingenuity—a place where rail met river, commerce met culture, and settlers transformed open prairie into prosperity. Each township name, land plot, and survey mark captures the forward-looking vision that shaped one of America’s fastest-growing cities. It’s not just a map—it’s a portrait of the people who built Dallas, carved by hand, ink, and determination.

A Legacy Preserved

Expertly restored from the original archive, this reproduction preserves every detail with museum-quality precision. Printed on heavyweight archival paper or hand-stretched premium canvas, each piece delivers exceptional clarity and depth. Every reproduction includes a custom historical letter detailing Dallas County’s rise during the late 19th century, offering deeper insight into how the map reflects one of Texas’s most transformative eras.

Paper prints ship rolled in reinforced mailing tubes, while canvas editions arrive gallery-wrapped on solid pine stretcher bars, ready to hang and enjoy immediately.

Bring home a piece of North Texas history with this captivating map of Dallas County—a timeless tribute to the pioneers, planners, and visionaries who turned open prairie into the beating heart of modern Texas.

Dallas 1886: The Story Behind the Map
In 1886, Dallas stood at the threshold of transformation. Just a few decades earlier, it had been a quiet trading post on the Trinity River. By the mid-1880s, the arrival of multiple railroads had turned it into one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas—a crossroads of commerce linking the plains to the ports of the Gulf.
Cotton drove the economy. The surrounding countryside was dotted with gins and warehouses, and railcars left the city loaded with bales bound for distant mills. The railroads brought not only trade but people: farmers seeking better markets, merchants chasing opportunity, and families escaping the hard years that followed the Civil War. With each new arrival, Dallas became less of a frontier town and more of a regional capital.
The city was alive with construction. Brick replaced wood, and the first multi-story buildings began to rise downtown. Streets filled with streetcars and wagons, and telegraph wires laced the skyline. Gas lamps illuminated the main thoroughfares, signaling Dallas’s embrace of modernity. Civic leaders boasted of their schools, churches, and new courthouse, while newspapers predicted that the city would soon rival St. Louis or New Orleans in influence.
Still, the frontier was never far away. Beyond the city limits stretched open prairie—vast tracts of farmland crisscrossed by creeks, fences, and wagon trails. Surveyors and land agents divided the land into neat parcels, selling off the future acre by acre. Land speculation became a kind of fever, fueled by confidence that Dallas would continue to grow without limit.
Life in 1886 was a blend of grit and optimism. Cattlemen and bankers, laborers and lawyers, all moved through the same muddy streets, united by ambition and faith in the city’s destiny. The wounds of the Civil War had not fully healed, yet Dallas looked forward with determination rather than backward in grief.
This was the Dallas captured in the maps of the era—a place where fields met rail lines, where visionaries saw a metropolis waiting to emerge from the prairie. The Dallas of 1886 was not yet the modern city it would become, but its foundations were already in place: industry, transportation, and a restless belief that anything was possible in North Texas.

Archival-Grade Paper: Your map is printed on thick, acid‑free paper designed to resist yellowing and fading. The high‑resolution printing process captures every detail, ensuring a crisp, vibrant image that lasts for generations.
Hand‑Stretched Canvas: If you choose canvas, we use a premium cotton‑poly blend stretched over solid pine frames. Each canvas is carefully hand‑stretched for a tight, gallery‑quality finish that's ready to hang right out of the box.
Vivid, Fade‑Resistant Inks: We use professional‑grade inks that are UV‑resistant, so your print retains its rich colors even when displayed in bright rooms.
Expert Restoration: Every map is digitally restored by skilled artisans. We preserve the character of the original while enhancing clarity, so you see the map as it was meant to be seen.
Secure Packaging: Paper prints are rolled in heavy‑duty mailing tubes, and canvases are cushioned in reinforced boxes to ensure they arrive in pristine condition.
Choosing one of our prints means investing in craftsmanship. We combine historical authenticity with modern print technology and premium materials, giving you a work of art built to stand the test of time.