The city of Dallas Center has a long and great small-town Iowa history.  The first settlers came to the area in 1853 - Dr. James B. Brenton family - although it wasn't until 1869 when things started to pick up.  The train depot was built in that year and on July 19, 1869 the first train rolled through DC.
   
   Here are some other notable firsts:

    100 years later in 1969 the list of Dallas Center businesses was impressive:   groceries and meats, dry goods, hardware store, drug store, a bank, veterinarian, grain and feed, garages, service stations, restaurants, feed mill and produce station, barber shop, beauty shops, Hyline Research Lab, implement dealers, real estate services, newspaper, job printing and hobby shop, physicians and surgeons, bowling alley, dentist, laundromat, welding shops, corn shelling, trucking, stock dealers, lawyer, TV and electrical appliances, contractors, airport, tavern, body shop, lumberyard, plumbing and heating, mortuary, backhoe and trenching, architect, auctioneers, manufacturing, library, insurance, florists, and tax services.

    IMAGINE THAT!
    

    While Dallas Center has experienced many ups and downs in our history, we are still a strong community that will always have a presence in the greater Des Moines metro area.