Ursuline’s original convent was torn down for a parking lot.
Less than a week after arriving in Dallas in 1874 with just $146 between them, six nuns, led by Mother St. Joseph Holly, opened Ursuline Academy with seven students. It grew quickly, and in 1882 the Sisters made plans to build a lavish Gothic style structure on 10 acres in East Dallas. Although the building wasn’t completed until 1907, it drew students from all over the country and Mexico. It remains the city’s oldest continuously operating school. In 1950, the school again expanded with a new location in Preston Hollow. The unique building was torn down and replaced with a parking lot for the Dallas Theological Seminary. (Sources: Ursuline Academy, The Dallas Morning News)
