The history of Dallas’s Concrete Industry is as old as modern American architecture itself. There is no doubt that the technology surrounding the concrete pattern of the building has come a long way since it was first used in the 18th century. But the application of concrete has also been traced to the Great Pyramids at Giza, more reason it has been able to withstand the temperature all this while.
Though no specific date has been attributed to when the use of concrete was first used in Dallas, there has been evidence that it has been in use in the United States since 1891 George Bartholomew when he used it while constructing some road in the united states. The second time it was recorded was in 1985 during the Union Plaza in Seattle Washington when what was explained to be of the highest strength of concrete material was used.
But there have been some private buildings in Dallas built of concrete that can also be traced back to 40 – 45 years back. Though there are still other popular buildings in the city dated back to the 18th century, one can’t outrightly say that they are all built from concretes. Some of these buildings include F.A. Brown Farmstead (1880), Hart Furniture (1888), Cumberland Hill School (1888), Betterton House (1888-89), Allen House (1889), and Columbus Langley (1891). If this is the case, then there is enough reason to believe that the city of Dallas has been heavily involved in the use of concrete for building constructions in the 18th century.
History of Concrete in other Parts of the World
Before the use of concrete made its way into the New World (America), there have been traces of concrete buildings in 600BC Rome. Though they may not have been the first to use it, their excessive use of these materials was widespread. But it was also discovered that the Roman empire intensified their use of concrete by 200BC when they made it their major means of construction.
But unlike what we have today, they mix theirs with seawater, volcanic ash, and lime. They pack the mixed concrete into a wooden form of the object, once it hardens, it will be stacked, just lime the normal bricks we have today. We believe that this is one of the reasons most of their structures still stand today, despite some earth’s natural turbulence.
Just like in Dallas, concretes have been in use in England, the first recorded event was in 1824 by Joseph Aspdin. He is said to have invented the Portland cement which requires properly burning the ground chalk and clay until the carbon dioxide is substance is removed.
The portland cement was used all over England and France throughout the 19th century, not until Francois Coignet modified the procedure by adding steel rods to it to avoid the walls from spreading.
Finally, since the popular Dallas Cement City is located at the Missouri Pacific Railroad, just three miles west of downtown Dallas, it shows that indeed, the Dallas concrete industry is as old as modern American architecture.
