Big D: economic monster with a sparkling Arts District

Big D
Originally uploaded by trudeau

Dallas is the third-largest city in the state of Texas[4][5] and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States.[6][7][8]

The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area; it has a population of 6,371,773.[10]

The metroplex economy is the sixth largest in the United States, with a 2010 gross metropolitan product of $374 billion.[11]

Before Texas was claimed in the 18th century as a part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain by the Spanish Empire, the area was inhabited by the Caddo people.

Later, France also claimed the area, but in 1819 the Adams-Onís Treaty made the Red River the northern boundary of New Spain, officially placing the future location of Dallas well within Spanish territory.[16] The area remained under Spanish rule until 1821, when Mexico declared independence from Spain and the area became part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas.

In 1836, the Republic of Texas broke off from Mexico to become an independent nation.[17]

John Neely Bryan and his Arkansas friend Joe Dallas established a permanent settlement and called that settlement Dallas. The Republic of Texas was then annexed by the United States in 1845.

The Arts District in the northern section of Downtown includes the
- Dallas Museum of Art
- Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
- Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art
- Nasher Sculpture Center
- Dallas Contemporary, and The Dallas Children's Theater.

- Winspear Opera House
- Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre
- City Performance Hall.
- DISD's Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts,

Deep Ellum, immediately east of Downtown, originally became popular during the 1920s and 1930s as the prime jazz and blues hot spot in the South.[44] Artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, and Bessie Smith played in original Deep Ellum clubs such as The Harlem and The Palace.

Today, Deep Ellum is home to hundreds of artists who live in lofts and operate in studios throughout the district alongside bars, pubs, and concert venues.