Towns & Communities of Dallas County
Dallas
County, in north central Texas, is bordered by Kaufman and Rockwall counties to
the east, Tarrant County to the west, Denton and Collin counties to the north,
and Ellis County to the south. Dallas is the county seat and largest city. The
county's center point is at 32°46' north latitude and 96°48' west longitude.
Dallas County comprises 902 square miles of the primarily flat, heavy Blackland
Prairie. Elevations in the county range from 382 to 850 feet above sea level.
The Elm Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River meet near downtown Dallas. The
county is drained by the Trinity River and its tributaries, including White
Rock, Mountain, Fivemile, Tenmile, Muddy, Duck, Turtle, and Mesquite creeks.
These streams feed reservoirs for municipal water and recreational use,
including Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake North, Joe Pool, Mountain Creek and White Rock
Lakes. The terrain is generally undulating. The eastern two-thirds of the county
and the land along the western border is surfaced by slightly acidic clayey
soils with loamy topsoil. The rest of the county's soil is alkaline and loamy.
The county has tall grasses with pecan and oak trees along streams and mesquite
on the prairies. Though the rich soil is the main mineral resource of Dallas
County, gravel and sand have been mined from the Trinity floodplain, cement has
been made from the local soft limestone, and bricks have been manufactured from
the county's clay. Temperatures range from an average high of 95° F in July to
an average low of 36° in January. The average rainfall is thirty-six inches a
year. The growing season lasts 235 days.
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