Building on Tremont Street
Photography by Jessica Turner
On Tremont Street, between Henderson Avenue and Augusta Street, the surroundings are normal for Junius Heights. The street is lined with one and two-story homes, many of them exhibiting the craftsman style that characterizes the historic neighborhood.
But where Tremont intersects Augusta, it’s clear that one of these things is not like the others.
The building at 5422 Tremont St. sticks out like a sore thumb. Instead of being coated with a pale shade of paint and a light trim color like the rest of the homes, this building is completely white. There is a porch but no windows.
Almost the whole front yard is covered with concrete. The roof is blocked from view by a terraced structure propped up at the front of the building.
It doesn’t look like any of the houses nearby because it isn’t a house.
The Dallas Central Appraisal District describes the 2,472-square-foot structure built in 1920 as a “free standing retail store” on its website. City permits confirm the building’s use.
Unfortunately, there’s nearly a 60-year gap in records at the city’s Permit Center. But loyal readers are here to help.
Teresa Judd, a longtime East Dallas resident, says the store was opened in 1910 by brothers William and Walter Clark. They were grocers in East Texas before they came to Dallas. And after about 15 years in Junius Heights, they combined their store with another local grocer, J.L. Johnson, forming the Clark and Johnson Stores.
The earliest use, according to city records, lists the building as a grocery/retail store owned by an individual, Jerry Garner, in 1978. The same year, a certificate of occupancy was issued for a liquor store at the property, with a different owner, Noel Song, and tenant, Gilbert Rodriguez.
In 1980, the use on the certificate of occupancy permit is listed as grocery/retail; the owner remains the same, but there’s a new tenant.
The next year, a certificate of occupancy was issued, but like the previous years, no business name is listed. There’s only the use — liquor store — with an owner, Michael W. York.
In 1986, the city’s records show a business at the Tremont Street property: Mike’s Grocery. It remained Mike’s Grocery, or Mike’s Grocery and Market, until 2005.
In that year, a certificate of occupancy was issued for a general merchandise or food store doing business under the name “Carroll Properties.” No additional certificate of occupancy has been issued since then, although the city did approve the applicant’s request to make repairs to the roof in 2008.
What differentiates this building from other retail centers in our neighborhood is that it stands alone. Other buildings, such as the one on Greenville Avenue near Marquita, where Window Seat Coffee and St. Martin’s Wine Bistro are located, was built before 1931 and serves as a commercial property in the middle of the Lower Greenville neighborhoods. But it offers several storefronts for several retailers.
The 1940s building on Junius Street that houses Garden Cafe and other businesses is another commercial property that’s unlike the Tremont building.
It must be just another one of those charming East Dallas quirks.
Update (Nov. 1): This story has been updated with information from a reader.
