In 1839, Tennessee lawyer and adventurer John Neely Bryan rode into North Texas and surveyed the vast landscape before him. He saw opportunity—and returned two years later to map out the city that would become Dallas.
Today, Big D and Fort Worth anchor the Metroplex, the name adopted in 1972 to brand the region’s then emerging collection of communities and corporations. Now home to over 6.5 million people living in more than 125 municipalities, and headquarters to 18 Fortune 500 companies, the Metroplex is still in the business of making history, including in the group market.
In November, the Dallas CVB announced that it had booked 31 citywide meetings and conventions—the most in the bureau’s 55-year history—resulting in 1.5 million future room nights. Calling this record-breaking news “the fruition of many years of hard work,” Phillip Jones, president and CEO of the Dallas CVB, stated that “this historic time for Dallas illustrates the city as one of the fastest-growing destinations for business and leisure travelers.”
With the March 2013 launch of “Big Things Happen Here,” its largest brand campaign ever, Big D is reaching new milestones left and right. For the first time, Dallas is the No. 5 destination in the U.S. for meetings and conventions—and the city is hungry for more.
“We anticipate exceeding what we have put on the history books today by driving even more business to our thriving city,” Jones stated of 2014.
As Big D surges ahead, the region’s rich history, like pillars anchored in bedrock, vitally undergird future growth and success. From across the Metroplex, here are some legacy venues and experiences for groups that made this booming destination what it is today.PageBreak
Historic Headliners
Located two miles east of downtown Dallas, the 277-acre Fair Park complex is a national landmark that occupies a special place in local, state and national history. Since 1886, the site has hosted the State Fair of Texas, a major force in the development of Dallas. Destroyed by fire in 2012, Big Tex, the 52-foot tall cowboy first introduced in 1952, returned last year to greet visitors to the annual month-long event, worth some $350 million to the local economy.
In 1936, Fair Park staged the Texas Centennial Exposition in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Texas Republic. Like a perfect time capsule, the Art Deco buildings, artworks and sculptures built for the event still stand, making Fair Park the nation’s sole remaining intact and unaltered pre-1950s world fair site. Several of the original buildings are included in more than 749,000 square feet of enclosed space for conferences, exhibits and other events.
Few places anywhere convey as powerful a sense of history as the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Offering 4,500 square feet of event space, this acclaimed museum examines JFK’s life, death and legacy with a permanent exhibition on the top floor of the former Texas School Book Depository. The view of Dealey Plaza below, where the city of Dallas commemorated the 50th anniversary of his assassination this November, is a powerful window on the past.
Opened in 1892, the Dallas County Courthouse long served as a focal point of Dallas life and government before its conversion into the Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture. One of the only hands-on history galleries in the U.S., “Old Red” tells the story of Dallas County in rich detail, while offering versatile event space such as the Great Hall, accommodating up to 400 people.
Half an hour west in Fort Worth, the Old West rides on at the Stockyards National Historic District. From its founding in the late 1800s through both world wars until its declining days in the mid-1980s, this celebrated heritage site was a major American nerve center for the processing of cattle and other livestock. Featuring original structures such as the event-capable Cowtown Coliseum, famed for championship indoor rodeo, and hot draws like Billy Bob’s Texas, “The World’s Largest Honky-Tonk,” the stockyards, complete with hotels, restaurants, retail and entertainment, provide groups with an authentic immersion in Fort Worth’s storied past.
Also in Fort Worth, the event-capable C.R. Smith Museum celebrates the history of American Airlines, founded in 1933, and its parent company AMR, long a corporate presence in the Metroplex. PageBreak
Oldies But Goodies
In Arlington, located about halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth, the classic collection continues with the Arlington Music Hall (1950) and the intriguing Top O’Hill Terrace. Billed as “Vegas Before Vegas,” this Texas historic landmark, today Arlington Baptist College, began life as a tea room in the 1920s before its next owners converted the facilities into a clandestine casino. Tours, by appointment, reveal secrets such as an escape tunnel and ingenious methods used for hiding the gambling operation during police raids.
In nearby Irving, named for famed American writer Washington Irving, The Heritage District was the first area designed by the former railroad town’s founders in 1903. Attractions include Big State Drugs, a pharmacy and soda shop from 1948, and Heritage Park, featuring structures such as Irving’s first water tower, windmill and library.
Groups have another memorable link to the area’s rail heritage in “aged to perfection” Grapevine, via the popular Grapevine Vintage Railroad. Serviced by two Victorian-style locomotives, excursions include the 21-mile trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards along the historic Cotton Belt Route. The railroad is part of Grapevine’s walkable, preserved historic downtown, which offers a wide range of attractions for groups.
Twenty minutes north of downtown Dallas, Frisco’s rapid growth as a city mirrors that of the Metroplex itself. Offering tours and event space, the Frisco Heritage Museum includes a village composed of structures representing the area’s past, including the historic Lebanon Baptist Church.
Fittingly for Frisco, another former railroad town, the museum also currently houses the exhibits and educational programming of the Museum of the American Railroad. In September, this historic institution completed the relocation of its collection of “trains that built our nation” and vintage structures from Dallas’ Fair Park to downtown Frisco. Construction of the museum’s permanent facility is now under way on the expansive new site.
Just outside of nearby Plano, TV’s Dallas lives on at Southfork Ranch. Set on over 300 acres of ranchland, this acclaimed filming location hosts the gamut of gatherings at its 63,000-square-foot conference and event center.
In Mesquite, located just east of Dallas, groups can enjoy the state’s official sport of rodeo during the summer months at Mesquite Arena, home of the ProRodeo Series, established in 1958.
Longtime Meetings Focus contributor Jeff Heilman looks forward to saddling up for yet more Texas coverage in 2014.
