Cornerstone Companies

As the Dallas Historical Society began planning its 80th anniversary, the Board of Trustees elected to focus the celebration on the city of Dallas. An inexplicable mystique surrounds Dallas, the City of Splendid Realities today, as in 1913 when the phrase - coined to attract 150,000 - drew residents to the new city. Dallas has long been thought of as a city built on dreams, fostered by rugged determination. The many facets and faces of our history became the source of a yearlong celebration.

To celebrate its 80th year, the Dallas Historical Society (DHS) held an activity each month, highlighting the history of the city: its heritage, myths, and legends, buildings and monuments, ethnic groups, music history, and even infamous outlaws. Yet, one group, more than any other, shaped the future of Dallas - the business community. DHS Trustee Martin Cox of JPMorgan Chase was convinced that corporate recognition was long overdue. The Cornerstone Companies designation is a new honor bestowed on companies founded in and doing business here in Dallas for eight decades or more.

The Dallas corporate community has fostered a thriving business climate, the backbone of our city, then and now. Yet, longevity and the entrepreneurial spirit built more than a financial center. These qualities built a corporate culture - though not unique to Dallas, but unique in the breadth of the vision - a culture of involvement and outreach into the heart of the community, whether in education, the arts, human services or civic endeavors. The corporate culture in Dallas has been unfaltering in its commitment to improve the quality of life in our city. In today's era of change and upheaval, the corporate community has been tenacious in its survival and prosperous without foregoing its culture of involvement.

To each and every Cornerstone Company, we salute the vision and commitment that made these companies a cornerstone of this community: