DALLAS AND WICHITA RAILROAD. The Dallas and Wichita Railroad Company was chartered on December 2, 1871, by citizens of Dallas. The line was projected to be over 100 miles long and to penetrate the reputed mineral regions of the Wichita County area. John Neely Bryan broke ground for the road in 1872, but the panic of 1873 forced the construction to stop. Work was resumed in 1877, when Dallas citizens voted $100,000 in bonds for the project. By 1878 twenty miles of track had been built from Dallas north to Lewisville, but the road went into receivership the next year. In 1880 the line was bought by the Texas and Pacific Company, which completed the extension from Lewisville to Denton. The Dallas and Wichita was sold to the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company on December 15, 1881, and became part of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company of Texas on November 18, 1891.
