As part of our mission, Preservation Dallas recognizes
and brings attention to the city’s Most Endangered Historic Places.
Last year, Preservation Dallas added the Tenth Street Historic District,
a City of Dallas Historic District to this list. The Tenth Street neighborhood
stands out as an early African-American neighborhood in Dallas, whose
development may date back to the post-Civil War era when freed slaves
settled in the area. While no buildings from the 1840s exist today,
evidence of a community survives in the Oak Cliff Cemetery, the city’s
oldest public cemetery, established in 1846 by William Beaty. Today,
a lack of financial resources, neglect, code violations, crime, vacant
lots, and few owner occupied homes challenge the neighborhood.
In April, Preservation Dallas selected one house in the
Tenth Street neighborhood to prep, prime, and paint. The house is an
owner-occupied Craftsman style bungalow on Church Street. With a strong
commitment from MetroTex Realtors Leadership Class, Preservation
Dallas organized a two-day effort, led entirely by volunteers. Volunteers
from URS and Corgan Associates devoted one Saturday to
prep and prime the house, while the MetroTex Realtors Leadership Class
painted the house and garage the following Thursday. The effort resulted
in more than 60 volunteers, working two full days to complete the project.
Special thanks to all the volunteers, project coordinator
and board member Nicky DeFreece Emery, and House Captains Chris
Black, Todd Yount, Charles Neel, and board member
Taylor Allday. Additional assistance was provided by Bryan
Segers and board member Elaine Copeland, as well as Christina
Smith with the Dallas Police Department. We could not have completed
the project without them, and our generous in-kind sponsors including
Sherwin-Williams, Elliot’s Hardware on Maple Avenue,
Southland Corporation, Bluebonnet Waste, and 1-877-8-Dump-It,
Inc. We also thank Councilmember for District 7, Honorable Carolyn
R. Davis for supporting the project, and recognizing our volunteers.
The newly painted house will bring a facelift to the street
and help the owner maintain her house. It improves the streetscape,
and brings some much needed positive change to this great historic resource.
