The city of Dallas secured its role as the economic, communication and transportation center of North Texas with the completion of the junction of the Texas & Pacific and Houston & Texas Central Railroads in 1873. In 1871, as railroads began to approach Dallas, county and city leaders paid the Houston & Texas Central $5,000 to shift the proposed route seven miles to the west, so that it north-south tracks would run approximately one mile from the court house. One year later, when leaders could not convince the Texas & Pacific to shift their proposed route by payment, they devised a way to force the shift.