It was 1842 when John Beeman first made camp near what is now White Rock Lake, and modern recorded history of East Dallas began to take its shape. Since then, there have been thousands of notable moments, some of them forgotten in the record books, while others are commemorated on plaques dotting the neighborhood. To chart every single one would be all but impossible. Instead, this map highlights the important, odd-ball and just plain intriguing stories of our neighborhood going back to the days before East Dallas was incorporated into the city. It will keep growing as an interactive map on our website (see below), to which we will continue to add the historical happenings that brought us where we are today.
Historical Homes
Swiss Avenue Historic District in 1950 (photo), Fitzhugh to La Vista
Home of Jefferson Peak (photo), Worth and Peak
Caruth Farm rolled on logs (photo), Belmont and Greenville
McIntosh House of glass (photo), 1518 Abrams
Mount Vernon on Halloween (photo), 4009 W. Lawther Dr.
Developing East Dallas
Water tanks – the ‘best in North Texas,’Â Abrams and Goliad, Gaston and Haskell
East Dallas’ original City Hall and School, 3202 Gaston
White Rock Pump Station, 2900 White Rock Road
Bathing beach (photo) and Bath House, Lawther Drive
Historic latrines that will never be bathrooms, Flag Pole Hill
Lakewood Country Club (photos) and the golf stars, 6430 Gaston
Reinhardt Elementary taught kids east of the lake, 10122 Losa Drive
St. Matthew’s Cathedral (photo), 5100 Ross Ave.
James Fannin Elementary School (photo), 4800 Ross Ave.
Woodrow Wilson High School and the wedding cake (photo), 100 S. Glasgow
Civilian Conservation Corps and the POWs (photo), 950 E. Lawther Drive
Lakewood Post Office (photo), 6324 Prospect Ave.
Gus Thomasson Road, one of the oldest
Casa View rises from cotton farms (photo)
Ferguson opens with a bang, Ferguson, between Buckner and Samuell
Junius Heights and the fight for the columns (photo), Abrams Parkway at Glasgow
Lindbergh Drive disappeared in two days, Skillman Street
Big Business
Dallas Ice Factory, Light and Power Company and the ice wars, Swiss and Hall
Hockaday School for Girls’ East Dallas origin (photo), 1206 Haskell Ave.
Mariano’s Mexican Cuisine and the birth of the frozen margarita machine, Greenville at Lovers
Continental Gin Company Showroom (photo), 232 N. Trunk Ave.
East Dallas Union Depot and the railroads (photo), Pacific and Central Expressway
Ursuline Academy gorgeous gothic beginning (photo), Live Oak, Haskell, Bryan and St. Joseph
Mrs. Baird’s Bread Company (photo), 1401 N. Carroll
Bob-O-Links Golf Course (photo), Abrams, between Mercedes and McCommas
Dr Pepper National Headquarters (photo), Greenville and Mockingbird
Porter Chevrolet and the giant Santa (photo), 5526 E. Mockingbird Lane
Neighborhood oddities
UFO sighting, White Rock Lake
Haunting of the lake, Lawther Drive
Birthplace of Daffy Duck, White Rock Lake
Warren Angus Ferris Cemetery and the unmarked graves (photo), St. Francis and San Leandro
Zodiac Killer in Dallas? Lawther Drive
Fatal plane crash, near Garland Road
Brawling teenagers on the move, Greenville Avenue
Ghost and the grave of the severed arm, Motley Drive and Eastfield Parkway
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