Old City Park is Dallas' first public park (1515 S. Harwood Street) and was established in 1876. On July 5th, 1876 to honor the American centennial, ten acres near the springs were set aside as Dallas' first municipal park. By 1885 nine more acres, including Browder Springs property, were added. The springs supplied water to the city and the park grounds provided a center for leisure activities and group gatherings. The city's first zoo was here. Fountains, greenhouses, tennis courts, a playground and a wading pool were later added. In 1936, the site was renamed "Sullivan Park" for Dallas water commissioner Dan L. Sullivan but it remained popularly know as "Old City Park".
In 1966, the Dallas Park Board agreed to allow the Dallas County Heritage Society to revitalize the park as a Heritage Center of restored historic structures. I visited the park back in 1999 when it was called Dallas Heritage Village. There were people there working in trades from that time. You could go in and see the rooms appropriately furnished. There was an entrance fee but so worth it.
In May 2024, the city took over the management of the park. Over the years, the attendance to the living museum had fallen. Now the City of Dallas is trying to come up with (1) a plan on how to move forward and (2) a manager for that plan. As it stands now, there's just a park with a lot of old structures.
But those old structures are still pretty cool, and it's FREE to in.
This is the old ticket office of Dallas Heritage Village. According to one of the other signs in the park (there's no identifying sign on this building), it came from the property of Morgan M. Mayfield who lived in Highland Park when it was an up and coming neighborhood in 1907. Mayfield was a lumber dealer.
Railroad Depot. Built by a subsidiary of the Missouri, Kansas & Texas (MKT or Katy) Railroad, the depot sports that line's light and dark green color scheme. Before it was moved to Dallas Heritage Village and restored, this depot had been cut in two, which half being used for hay storage on a farm.
Railroads were the catalysts for development in North Central Texas, allowing easy transport of new residents and manufactured goods into the region and agricultural products out. A peek through the grimy windows shows the ticket office.
The Houston and Texas Central freight train first rolled into Dallas in July 1872. A year later, the Texas & Pacific Railroad arrived. Intersecting in Dallas, the two lines created the first major railroad crossing in the Southwest and linked the town to Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago. Dallas business boomed and the population exploded from 3000 to 7000 in one year. Another peek in a different window shows the waiting room.
This building, originally located in Fate Texas, was owned by the Dallas and Greenville Railway, a subsidiary of the Missouri-Katy-Texas Railroad, known as MKT or Katy railroad. Most railroad architecture was standardized throughout the west, with each railroad line building having designated colors.
Citizen's Bank (original location: Justin Tx - 1905). Designed to occupy the most prominent corner on Main Street, this bank was built with large, arched windows and equipped with electric light, a fine oak tellers cage and an impressive vault. Compared to the General Store, the interior is rather austere. Banks were places to conduct business, not to loiter or visit. Banks were vital to the economic growth of a community. They not only safeguarded the deposits of customers, they also loaned money that allowed merchants to expand their businesses, helped families to buy homes, and enabled farmers to purchase seeds and equipment.
Banks also created new jobs for clerks, tellers, and accountants, and the bank president was usually among the towns most prominent citizens. After the bank moved to the new bu8ilding in the 1930's, this structure was used for various purposes, including a cafe. Fun fact: This bank was never robbed but it's "modern" replacement was. A peek inside the bank building window and you can see the teller cage.
Back when it was Dallas Heritage Village, you could go inside the Citizens bank and get a closer look. Note that the wood on the teller cage seems to be more cared for.
Miller's Cabin (original location: 3110 Bonnie View Rd, Dallas - 1847) Constructed by the William Brown Miller family, this square-notched log house is typical of the first structures erected by pioneers while they cleared the land and put in crops. The furnishings all indicate the self-sufficiency required of pioneer families. The Millers even brough window glass with them, since there was no local source for it. This building also served as one of the first schools in the area, when Mr. Miller brough a teacher from Kentucky in 1852 to instruct his five daughters and seven girls from neighboring farms. Everyone lived in this house, with some of the children sleeping in the unheated attic. For a time, nearly 20 people resided in this tiny dwelling. You couldn't really see inside this building.
Miller Playhouse - 1908: Logs from William Brown Miller's land on the banks of the Trinity River were cut and used to build this crude log playhouse in 1908 for Miller's Granddaughter Evelyn. In 1920, the ceiling was raised to accommodate the owner, who had grown too tall for the original height of the building.
Millermore (original location 3110 Bonnie View Rd - 1855-1862) The Miller family and their slaves spent seven years building this comfortable, two-story farmhouse, using local cedar and post oak, cut and hand hewn, and then drawn to the site by oxen for framing. Milled siding was shipped from Jefferson in East Texas. The house's Greek Revival style features wide center halls flanked by square rooms, positioned to catch the prevailing breezes. Rooms have defined functions, and family members enjoyed a degree of privacy unknown in early log houses.
A peek inside one of the windows shows what's left of the furnishings. Only a piano is left.
William Brown Miller (1807-1899) moved from Missouri to Texas in 1847 with his family. In 1855-62 he built this house on his farm east of Dallas. His twelfth child Minerva (1865-1960) inherited the house and named it Millermore. Her husband, Barry Miller (1864-1933) was a lieutenant Governor of Texas. herein lived also their daughter, Evelyn Miller Crowell, author of "A Texas Childhood". The house was dismantled in 1966 and reconstructed here in the 1970's. Another peek in the back door and you can see the beautiful staircase going up.
The cistern on the back porch was designed to catch rain water, softer and more pleasant for washing hair and clothing than well water.
The Gazebo.
Brent Place, 1876: Built near Plano, Texas, by James Monroe Brent, this gabled farmhouse was typical of "architecture catalogue" houses which could be ordered in kits and shipped by rail to rural areas. The paint colors are original, and the privy and granary behind the house also came from the Brent Farm.
In the days of the Dallas Heritage Village, the Brent house was the museum's restaurant. Today it's used for storage. A peek inside shows another beautiful staircase. It looks very similar to the one at Millermore. Perhaps that was the style?
I love these old ads painted on buildings. This is an old Dr Pepper ad. Dr Pepper was created by Pharmacist Charles Alderton and was first sold in 1885 at Morison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco. The drink was named by Wade Morrison, the store owner. He called it Dr Pepper after Dr. Charles Pepper, the father of a former love interest.
Blum Brothers General Store original location: 2010 Lobo street Dallas. The general store was an institution throughout the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It carried everything from fresh produce to canned goods, from clothing to patent medicines, and from seeds to farm implements. Because the storekeeper often extended credit to regular customers, he played a vital economic role in the community. The general store was also a social center, where people shopped, visited and discussed the news of the day.
This building was constructed by German immigrant storekeepers without professional carpentry help. The paneling on the ceiling and walls was recycled from older buildings, and under the current paint are many different hues. The building remained in the family until 1972, when the museum acquired it. A peek inside the general store makes you sad.
This photo was taken of the same building back in 1999. All of these items were sold.
Saloon - Original location: Snow Hill, Collin County (1904); This regular "false front" building originally housed a general store. Today it is home to a saloon, another popular gathering place, where men discussed work, played games, organized fraternal events, and met for relaxation. Ladies were not allowed as patrons in saloons, and only women of dubious character would have been found inside one.
A peek inside the window of the saloon. It looks like most of the furnishings are still there. In the days of Dallas Heritage Village, this was McCall's General Merchandise store. It housed the gift shop.
A view of the General Store and the "Saloon" from my 1999 visit. It appears both buildings had been renamed.
Browder Springs Hall (original location: Savoy, Tx) 1906; Constructed in 1906 in Savoy, Texas, a community east of Sherman, this building is typical of small town commercial architecture around 1900. As a town grew and prospered, the first wooden store buildings were replaced with more impressive, durable structures of native stone or locally manufactured brick. One or two stories high, commercial buildings were dignified in composition and embellished with simple architectural details. The brickwork at the top of this building is "corbelled", meaning that the bricks step upward and outward from the vertical wall in an attractive patter. Since the actual roof of the building is several feet below this parapet, the brickwork is purely decorative. The recessed doorway and metal awning were also common in commercial buildings. The building has a manufactured storefront of cast iron, popular because it was strong and relatively fireproof. Iron could be cast into a wide variety of ornamental forms and economically shipped by rail to distant markets. At the bottom of the two center columns is the name of the foundry which cast the facade: The Denison Foundry Works. This building first housed the W.T. Carter Dry Goods store, which opened in 1906 with a wagon, two horses, and $1,200 in goods. The building later became a grocery store, the Savoy Post Office and finally a cafe. During the days of Dallas Heritage Village, this housed a printing shop.
According to Dallas Heritage Village, this used to be the Thompson and Knight Law office, built in 1906 at the corner of Oak and Nussbaumer streets in Dallas. Built to sit in on a corner, it has double hung windows and had a tin porch canopy, and a simple brick cornice. Now this building is used for storage.
Water for Dallas: During the early years of Dallas' development, citizens used private wells for water supply. In 1876 a private water system began to serve downtown from Browder Springs - now Old City Park. In 1881 the City of Dallas acquired the Browder Springs system. Dallas Water Utilities, an enterprise department of city government, developed from this modest beginning into a regional water system servicing all of Dallas plus neighboring communities. This water fountain seems to be the only living thing at the park.
Chautauqua Pavilion (built on this site in 1996). Inspired by the adult education program at lake Chautauqua, NY, communities across the country erected open-air pavilions in which to present their own "Chautauquas". Here musicians, actors and lecturers brought a wide range of cultural attractions to small towns at the turn of the last century. The octagonal shape and peaked roof of this structure were inspired by one built in Waxahachie in 1902, the only original Chautauqua pavilion remaining in Texas. Construction 1996 was spearheaded by a gift from Charles Pistor in honor of his wife, Regina, and the Pistors raised the other needed funds from a wide range of family and friends. Landscaping improvements added in 2013 were paid for by contributions made in memory of Charles after his death in 2012.
Pilot Grove Church (original location Pilot Grove Tx in Grayson County- 1895). The white frame church in a simplified Carpenter Gothic style originally served a Methodist congregation. It was in continues use until 1957.
The pine pews are original, while the bell tower houses a nineteenth century bell from Johnson Chapel Methodist Church in Malakoff Tx. Sunday was a time for social gathering as well as spiritual renewal, a day when farm families could meet to share news and renew the bonds of community. Families often brought picnic lunches to enjoy on the church grounds after the service, while church socials were acceptable times to meet prospective spouses and do a bit of courting. I found this photo of the inside of the church on the internet.
Gano Log House (original location: near Grapevine Tx - 1846). When first constructed near present-day Grapevine in 1846, this house consisted of two log rooms connected by a covered passageway. Sometimes called a "dog trot" or "dog run" this passageway provided shelter but ventilated space in which a family could eat, visit, perform domestic chores and even sleep during warm weather. With the erection of the sawmills in this region in the 1850's, the owners of the house were able to add two "shed rooms" at the rear built of milled lumber. Together with the loft above, they made the house a reasonably roomy dwelling, with distinct changers for dining, sleeping and entertaining. The exterior of the house was also covered with milled lumber for better insulation and a more refined appearance. The house is named for its most famous owner, Confederate General Richard M. Gano. Later owners, the Saunders, left their initials cared in the mantel in the parlor.
Back in 1999, the Gano Log House was furnished with items relative to the time that people lived there. This time, the house was empty and there was an alarm going off so we didn't want to get too close, just in case.
The Renner School (original location: Renner Texas): Built in a small rural community north of Dallas, this school held grades one through seven. The first through fifth grades met in the classroom downstairs, while grades six and seven met upstairs in the "high school". The original gray paint of the walls, windows and door trim remains. Schools were among the earliest institutions on the frontier, but education could be uncertain.
Farm children were often needed at home to help with chores so school terms were sandwiched between harvest and spring planting. Teachers were generally dedicated but nearly always overworked and poorly paid. They usually had to board with the families of their students, and they might need to arrive early at school to light the stove and stay late to sweep out the building. I found this photo of the inside of the schoolhouse on the internet.
Sullivan House - original location: 1724 Akard Street. Built only a few blocks from the Dallas Heritage Village at the corner of Akard and Beaumont in the fashionable Cedars neighborhood, this house was occupied for nearly 100 years by the Daniel F and Mary Sullivan family. Because Sullivan ws a plumbing and gas fitting contractor the house boasts an indoor bath and early gas lighting. its design includes fluted iconic columns (a neoclassical element) on the wraparound porch, as well as bay windows, decorative shingles, and gingerbread elements. Originally a separate kitchen, laundry house and carriage house sat behind this residence. The Cedars was home to many prominent merchants and civic leaders, and Daniel Sullivan served on the Dallas City Commission in the early 20th century. One of the neighborhoods principal attractions was City Park, now home to Dallas Heritage Village.
1500 Park Avenue, Old City Park: This house has faced City Park for over 100 years. The museum used it for offices until the 1990's, when it developed expensive problems with the roof, plumbing and air conditioning. Staff moved out and we stabilized it to limit further deterioration. It is currently used for storage while the museum seeks funds and a plan to restore it and put it to good use.
Old City Park: In the early 1900's, a line of similar houses used to march down Park Avenue, facing Dallas' first park, known as City Park. May houses disappeared to build the highway. Now the education department has their offices inside. The house is very large and has a rear staircase rising from the kitchen. Restoration work on the exterior of this building is ongoing as funding allows.
Doctor's Office. Original location 1017 E. Jefferson, Oak Cliff, Tx. Building in the Queen Anne style, with jigsaw gingerbread trip, bay windows and decorative shingles, this house originally had only three rooms. Built by a tract developer who defaulted on his loan, the cottage was sold at auction and was a rental residence before being moved to the museum in 1976. The building now houses a doctor's office, an examining room and an apothecary's workroom. Before 1900, most physicians were general practitioners. Only a few hours each day could be devoted to office visits, since the doctor made house calls to seriously ill patients. Sometimes the doctor prepared his own prescriptions; otherwise he would share quarters with a a trained druggist.
arriage House. Original location Highland Park: Designed to accommodate horse-drawn vehicles, this structure was built on the property of Morgan M. Mayfield, a lumber merchant, at the corner of Lakeside drive and Gillian Avenue in the new suburban community of Highland Park. Automobiles were becoming increasingly popular by 1910, but horses and carriages were still common sights on the streets. Eventually, many carriage houses were converted to garages housing cars. Highland Park was developed beginning in 1907 as a fine residential suburb, removed from the smoke and dust of the city. Because of its slightly higher elevation, it was advertised as being "ten degrees cooler" than Dallas. This building and the ticket office came from the same property.
Blum House, first built in 1900 as The George House, was a wedding gift from David Colonel “D.C.” George to his bride Verner Elsie McPherson. Descendants sold the house to the City of Plano in 1974. Five years later, Dallas County Heritage Society bought the house and moved it to its current location. The house was closed for touring back in 2019 due to its need of serious maintenance. I read that the DHV was granted $425K to begin the requirement maintenance on this house but clearly, they haven't started. I wonder what happened to the money?
Fisher Road House, 1900: Built near White Rock Lake in northeast Dallas, this house is typical of hundreds of box frame homes that dotted the countryside near the railroad lines, beginning to form late 19th century suburbs of Dallas and other cities. Like the nearby depot and section house, this building was originally sided with vertical boards and battens; the battens were later removed and drop or bevel siding added. it now houses the museum's public restrooms. Facilities for the handicapped are located at the back of the building.
Worth Hotel - built in 1904, original location 1108 Denton Dr., Carrollton Tx. Proprietors Eula and Mary Mole and their family built and operating this hotel near the Katy and Frisco railroad tracks. Many guests were traveling salesmen, called "drummers" because they drummed up business for their employers. Limited space meant that a guest could not expect a private room; if the hotel was crowded, he might even have to share a bed with a stranger. In additional to providing overnight accommodations to travelers, the hotel also offered meals (25 cents) in a long dining room extending from the back of the building. The hotel also offered packed lunches to railroad passengers, who wired their orders ahead.
This section house behind the depot was built in the 1880's in Carrollton, Tx and housed a rail crew who tended a 20 - 40 mile section of track. The crew lived in the house unless the foreman was a married man with family. In which case, the crew lived in discarded boxcars.
This "shotgun" house was built in 1906 on Gulliot Street in the State-Thomas district north of downtown Dallas. It was one of a row of ten identical houses built to provide inexpensive rental housing for African American working families, many of whom worked for the railroads.
In the parking lot of Old City Park is this house. Parks Cities Heritage House, circa 1908, original location Highland Park. The Park Cities Heritage House was among the oldest houses remaining in Highland Park when it was moved to this site in 1986. Michael Costello, who constructed the house in 1908, was a road superintendent for the Houston & Texas Central Railroad and later served as fire marshal and city secretary for the new town of Highland Park. Originally located at 3500 Lexington, the house is a typical American four-square, with a low-pitched hipped roof, wide overhanging eaves, and a single centered dormer in the attic.
The second floor now houses museum offices while the ground floor hosts meetings and receptions. A peek in the window shows this beautiful staircase.
Also in the parking lot is this gorgeous house. There's no signage to indicate its history and, like all the other buildings in the park, it looks like it is used for storage.
It breaks my heart to see so much history just waste away. If you want to go out there and check things out, the park is open from 7am - 7pm. It's free to go in and to park. Unfortunately some of the buildings are missing signs so you just have to guess what you're looking at.
I'm hoping the City of Dallas will come up with a plan to restore these buildings and save our history. Even without the docents and although it could use a little love, it's a cool place to visit!
