In 1940, East Dallas was a thriving residential community stretching from the railroad tracks along what now is North Central Expressway to Mockingbird Lane to White Rock Lake and Creek to Fair Park.
In 1936, Fair Park was selected to host the Texas Centennial Celebration, resulting in Fair Park’s transformation into a national treasure of Art Deco architecture, murals, sculptures and landscaping, much of which remains today.
At the time, East Dallas was riding high.
But in 1941, the United States’ entrance into World War II brought thousands of people to Dallas for defense-related jobs. Housing was scarce, and it was not only lucrative but patriotic to make room in large residents for the defense workers.
Many East Dallas homeowners welcomed “paying guests”, and many homes were divided into separate apartments. Before the War’s conclusion, a large area between Lakewood Shopping Center and Downtown was rezoned from single-family to multi-family.
Along the main traffic arteries of Gaston and Live Oak, large homes were replaced by the apartment buildings lining the streets today.
Following the War, many homeowners were unable to obtain home-improvement loans because of the multi-family zoning change. Potential single-family purchasers also couldn’t obtain home loans. “Red-lining” was in full swing.
The only viable purchasers wanted income-producing property. As original owners died or sold their properties to escape the creeping blight, “slum-lords” moved in and cut up scores of homes into small apartments by adding jerry-rigged bathrooms and kitchens.
The newly converted apartments were milked for immediate income and allowed to physically deteriorate with the owners intending eventually to sell the property only for land value.
The Munger Place Historic District was particularly impacted by this trend, as new Dallas residents often lived in this area for several weeks or months while they looked for permanent jobs and residences.
East Dallas continued the downward cycle through the 1970s, when revitalization began anew.
