2019 is history. Before we start looking too far ahead to what the new year will bring, let’s take a look back at some of our favorite historical photos we wrote about last year.
When it opened in 1962, this neighborhood bar on Bryan Street anchored a block of similarly seedy, space-themed establishments like the Orbit Lounge, the Rocket Lounge, the Space Lounge and the Apollo Lounge. Before it was a bar, the building withstood a dynamite explosion as racketeers waged a turf war in the dry cleaning industry.
Miss Sunelle Sutherland opened a used car dealership on Live Oak Street in 1951 when she was about 23.
Check her creds:
- First woman to receive a license from the City of Dallas to sell used cars
- Originally from East Texas, namely Winnsboro, in Wood and Franklin counties
- Worked for a used car dealer in Dallas for two years before striking out on her own
- Kept a sign over the entrance: “I’m just a poor little girl from the country, so don’t take advantage of me”
Was she a major babe? I don’t think she would mind if we say so.
Back in the day, it seems White Rock Lake was the go-to place in the neighborhood to wash your fancy new car. Sure, it probably wasn’t great for the environment, but can we blame these former thrifty neighbors for wanting to skip the car wash and save a few bucks?
Dallas Historic Preservation officer Mark Doty found 35-mm slides in the department’s storage. Curious, he had them scanned and was surprised to find photos of Dallas from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. Some of the old buildings in the photos are now new restaurants and retail businesses, but neighbors recognized this familiar facade.
Given the daily struggle of traffic and the hustle and bustle of Casa Linda, it may be hard to picture the neighborhood as a rural, almost no man’s land. The photo below shows the development of the Casa Linda Plaza. The first building that opened was the Casa Linda Theater in 1945. Nowadays, residents are familiar with the theater’s produce. In 2011, the building turned into a Natural Grocers.
