Dallas Park and Recreation Department’s historian Sally Rodriguez tells Advocate senior editor Keri Mitchell about these historic aerial photos of the Ridgewood Park area.
^ The street in the above picture’s foreground is Fisher Road, and in 1954 when the park was purchased, Trammel did not go all the way through to Fisher Road. There along Fisher is the old Williamson house. The Williamsons owned the property there. In 1954, the park did not extend to the corner of Fisher and Trammel.
^ Trammel Road now extends down to Fisher, and the Williamsons have constructed a new brick home. The city bought the home in 1990, and it was utilized as a day care for several years until the house was torn down last year. The old Williamson house in the lower left corner is now at Old City Park. It’s called the Fisher Road House, and it’s restroom facilities. Now you see the park has been developed with a softball field, wading pool and basketball court, and we’ve begun planting trees, but the park still does not front along Fisher Road.
^ Now the city has acquired the land at the corner of Fisher and Trammel to expand the park. The recreation center opened in February 1982, and I was on staff. This is a hoot — the car closest to the recreation center, that’s my car. It was a pale gray Chevy Celebrity.
As told to Keri Mitchell by Sally Rodriguez, Dallas Park and Recreation Department’s historian. All photos are courtesy of the Dallas Municipal Archives and curated by Rodriguez. She authored the book “White Rock Lake,” available at area bookstores and through arcadiapublishing.com.
