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Endangered Places
With so many historic buildings in Dallas having uncertain futures, Preservation Dallas developed the Most Endangered Historic Places list to call attention to important historic sites which are at risk of being lost forever. The list recognizes the many significant properties that make up our neighborhoods and reflect: the lives of community leaders, historical events, important architects and builders, and the families who made Dallas their home. The list also highlights the value of the city’s historic architectural styles and building types of rapidly disappearing residential, commercial, and public architecture. These are places are important to the diverse history of our city and are irreplaceable community assets that tell the story of Dallas and its development.
Miller-Stemmons National Register Historic District
The Most Endangered Historic Places in Dallas
2020
Atlas Metal Works
818 Singleton Boulevard (West Dallas)
The Atlas Metal Works industrial complex was built on land that was opened for development after construction of the Trinity River levees in the 1920s. The company, which started in 1904 manufactured culvert pipe, silos, stock tanks, and water cisterns with its original location near current-day City Hall. To meet growing demand, a 40,000 square... READ MORE
Deep Ellum
Main, Elm, Commerce, Canton Streets
Deep Ellum was settled after the Civil War by formerly enslaved men and women and became one of the most important African American areas of the city. It started as a residential district, but commerce and industry grew with the addition of nearby railroad tracks. African Americans, along with Jewish immigrants, set up enterprises in... READ MORE
DISD Schools in 2020 Bond
Multiple Locations
Schools in the Dallas Independent School District were placed on the Endangered list in 2015 as several were threatened with replacement. In 2018, that threat intensified with the release of a Strategic Facilities Plan calling for the demolition and replacement of seventeen schools, with decisions to be made on an additional six. DISD is currently... READ MORE
El Fenix
120 East Colorado Blvd (Oak Cliff)
First El Fenix restaurant in Dallas. Martinez moved from Nuevo Leon, Mexico to Dallas in 1911 and was a railroad worker and dishwasher at the Orient Hotel. The restaurant started out in a one-room location at McKinney and Griffin. After five years, the restaurant moved into a bigger location at 1608 McKinney and became a... READ MORE
Historic Features of Reverchon Park
3505 Maple Avenue (Oak Lawn)
Reverchon Park is one of Dallas’s oldest and most historic parks. Conceived as the southern terminus to the Turtle Creek Parkway, the first 36 acres of the park were purchased in 1914 by the City of Dallas and was originally named Turtle Creek Park. In 1915, it was renamed for noted French botanist and La... READ MORE
Longhorn Ballroom
216 Corinth Street (Riverfront)
The legendary Longhorn Ballroom opened in 1950 originally as the Bob Wills’ Ranch House. It was owned and operated by O. L. Nelms as a music venue for Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. The Ranch House included a dance floor accommodating 2,000 people, a barbeque restaurant, a bar, retail and outdoor areas. Bob Wills,... READ MORE
Mrs. Baird’s Bread Company Building
1401 North Carroll Avenue (East Dallas)
Mrs. Baird’s Bread came to Dallas in 1928-1929, constructing the firm’s first bakery outside of Fort Worth at the corner of Bryan Street and North Carroll Avenue. It was an ideal location, close enough to the railroads that delivered the basic ingredients as well as to the growing population of East Dallas where a ready... READ MORE
There were no endangered historic places in 2019
2018
Casa Linda Plaza
Garland Road and North Buckner Boulevard (East Dallas)
The Spanish Revival Style Casa Linda Plaza opened in 1945 built on land owned by the Brown family since 1937. The family purchased over 600 acres which they went on to develop as Casa Linda Estates for housing and Casa Linda Plaza for a commercial center to serve the growing residential area. Howard D. Brown... READ MORE
Cole Manor Motel
7002 Harry Hines Boulevard (Medical District)
Cole Manor Motel opened in 1946 as the El Sombrero Motor Courts on 1.66 acres as a motor hotel along Harry Hines Boulevard. The design of the motel is attributed to the prolific architect Charles Stevens Dilbeck, who designed many other similar motels along with houses of all sizes around Dallas. As typically of the... READ MORE
DISD Schools
Citywide
Schools in the Dallas Independent School District were placed on the Endangered Places list in 2015 in regards to a few which were threatened with replacement due to the passage of a 2015 school bond. Several years later that threat has intensified as the administration just released a Strategic Facilities Plan calling for the demolition... READ MORE
Hyer Elementary
3920 Caruth Boulevard (Highland Park)
In 2015, the Highland Park ISD passed a bond for the replacement of three significant historic schools, Bradfield Elementary School – 4300 Southern Avenue (Highland Park), University Park Elementary School – 3505 Amherst Avenue (University Park), and Hyer Elementary School – 3920 Caruth Boulevard (Highland Park). The three schools were deemed inadequate to meet the... READ MORE
Pike Park Recreational Center
2807 Harry Hines Boulevard (Little Mexico/Uptown)
The City of Dallas purchased land to establish the first park north of downtown in 1913. The area chosen for the park was first settled by Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s who had left Eastern Europe. During this period the neighborhood was known as Goose Valley, Frogtown or Little Jerusalem. Living conditions were grim,... READ MORE
Tennessee Dairy Wall
Oak Cliff
A 640-acre dairy farm was established in Oak cliff in 1907 by Tennessean Lindsley Waters. He named it Tennessee Dairies, Inc. and even won “most sanitary dairy farm” at the 1908 State Fair. It was only the second local retail distributor of milk to deliver pasteurized milk in glass bottles. By 1917, the farm had... READ MORE
Tenth Street Historic District
Oak Cliff
The Tenth Street Historic District, located on the southeastern edge of Oak Cliff, is one of the most important African American neighborhoods in Dallas. It developed around an established African American community dating back to the post-Civil War era when freed slaves settled there. The district contains mostly late nineteenth and early twentieth century structures... READ MORE
Timberlawn
4600 Samuell Boulevard (Far East Dallas)
Dr. James J. Terrill founded the Timberlawn Sanitarium in 1917 outside of the Dallas city limits on “eleven acres of orchard, garden and grove land” as described at the time by The Dallas Morning News. The spacious grounds were thought to facilitate patient improvement from psychiatric conditions. Included on the site was a large two-story... READ MORE
2017
First Church of Christ, Scientist (Eagle’s Nest)
1508 Cadiz St (Downtown)
Christian Scientists first established a congregation in Dallas in 1894, meeting in a series of downtown buildings. The congregation sold its wood-frame building on South Ervay Street near Marilla Street in 1910 to construct their new church on a recently purchased parcel of land at the corner of Browder and Cadiz in Browder’s Addition. The... READ MORE
Florence Hall and the Heritage Buildings of SMU
SMU Main Campus
The Southern Methodist University main campus was carefully planned in 1911 by its founding president Robert S. Hyer who desired to create a campus that was planned for the future and would not necessitate the removal of buildings as the campus expanded. He created Bishop Boulevard as a grand avenue from Mockingbird Lane to lead... READ MORE
Miller-Stemmons National Register Historic District
Oak Cliff
The Miller-Stemmons National Register of Historic Places Historic District is located in the heart of Oak Cliff and is one of the oldest neighborhoods in that area. After the annexation of the City of Oak Cliff in 1903 by the City of Dallas, Leslie A. Stemmons and Thomas S. Miller, Jr. developed what became the... READ MORE
National Register Properties Surrounding Lake Cliff Park
Oak Cliff
Lake Cliff Park and the immediate area surrounding it in Oak Cliff became a National Register of Historic Places Historic District in 1994 due to its significance with the development of the Oak Cliff community and the architecture of the neighborhood, primarily from the 1920s to 1930s. In 1997, the area was designated a Dallas... READ MORE
The Dallas Morning News Building
508 Young Street (Downtown)
The Dallas Morning News Building at the corner of Houston and Young Streets opened in 1949. It is affectionately known as the “Rock of Truth” building due to the inscription on the building’s front façade, which was taken from a 1906 address to employees by vice president and general manager of the corporation at the... READ MORE
Vaughn House
5350 South Dentwood Drive (Preston Hollow)
In 1951, when Dallas was still learning to embrace the new modern design movement (now called Mid-Century Modern), oilman Grady Vaughn commissioned architect Robert Goodwin, of Goodwin & Cavitt, to design his waterfront home on South Dentwood Drive in Preston Hollow. The sprawling 9,500 square foot home was designed to serpentine throughout the property, meandering... READ MORE
2016
Elbow Room
3010 Gaston Avenue
This simple, elegant, workhorse of a brick building was constructed about 1933 and first housed Royal Cleaners. It was gone within a year, followed by the California Flower Shop. Businesses came and left the small 1,824 square foot building every few years, and at times stood vacant. Berta’s Café opened there about 1940, and it... READ MORE
Historic Buildings Along the Proposed DART D2 Line
Downtown and Deep Ellum
DART is proposing a second rail line through downtown Dallas which will impact numerous historic buildings along the proposed route and its design options. The locally preferred alternative for the line is proposed to go through the Downtown Dallas National Register of Historic Places Historic District, the City of Dallas Harwood Historic District, and the... READ MORE
Historic Buildings at Fair Park
South Dallas
Fair Park is one of Dallas’ most important and beloved historic sites. From its beginnings in 1886 it has grown in size and importance becoming home to the annual Texas State Fair, the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition, and the 1937 Pan American Exposition. In 1904, Fair Park became part of the Dallas Public Park system.... READ MORE
Penson House
3756 Armstrong (Highland Park)
The Penson House was designed by O’Neil Ford, and built in 1954 for Jack and Nancy Penson. It is one of Ford’s largest residential projects and was designed in one of his favorite styles, Texas Regionalism. The exterior and interior of the 9,800 square foot home remains very close to the original design with the... READ MORE
Polar Bear
1207 N. Zang Boulevard (Oak Cliff)
The small but unique building with an extraordinarily whimsical façade across from Lake Cliff Park is commonly know as the Polar Bear for its association with its longest tenant the Polar Bear Ice Cream shop, a beloved shop of many. The structure was originally built in the early 1930s and its first two tenants were... READ MORE
Williams House
3805 McFarlin (University Park)
The Williams house was designed by architect David R. Williams in 1932 for University Park Mayor Elbert Williams. David R. Williams is considered the father of the Texas Regionalism style and the Williams house is considered the premiere example of the style. The home was Williams’ last residential project of its type and contains all... READ MORE
2015
Aldredge House
5500 Swiss Avenue (East Dallas)
Located in the city’s first residential historic district, the Aldredge House is one of architect Hal Thomson’s most important works built in the French Eclectic style with elegant Renaissance detailing. Completed in 1917 for rancher William Lewis and wife Willie Newbury, it quickly passed to local banker George Aldredge and his wife Rena Munger in... READ MORE
Bianchi House
4503 Reiger Avenue (East Dallas)
This distinctive brick Mission Revival Style house was designed by noted Dallas architects Lang & Witchell in 1912 for Italian sculptor Didaco Bianchi and his wife Ida. The stunning interior plasterwork and pilasters, unique to this style, were designed and constructed by Bianchi himself. Significant piers support the massive and intricately carved mantelpiece, while its... READ MORE
Brink’s Coffee Shop
4505 Gaston Avenue (East Dallas)
Designed by Paul & Paul Architects in 1964, Brink’s is perhaps the city’s finest remaining example of Modern “Googie” style architecture. The building features two rear-sloping zig-zag slab roofs with walls formed of alternating sections of storefront and rubble stone masonry with sloping ends. This building was the first restaurant constructed for Norman Brinker and... READ MORE
Cabana Hotel
899 Stemmons Freeway (City Center)
Dallas reflects a bit of Las Vegas with the 1962 Cabana Hotel developed by Jay Sarno, who also developed Vegas properties Caesar’s Palace (1966) and Circus Circus (1968). This 10-story, 300-room hotel with its striking decorative concrete screen once welcomed famed guests, including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Richard Nixon, and Norman... READ MORE
Dallas Independent School District Schools
Citywide
Historic schools are very important to the sense of place in neighborhoods across Dallas and are landmarks within each respective community. Historic schools in Dallas date form the early 1900s to the 1950s and were often designed by some of the most important architects in Dallas at the time, including Mark Lemmon and C.D. Hill.... READ MORE
Forest Theater
1914-1920 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (South Dallas)
The Forest Theater, with its distinctive neon emblazoned tower floating over the marquee, and the attached shopping center, opened in 1949 to serve the middle-class white patrons in the area. The 1,500 seat theater was part of the Interstate Theatre chain and designed by H. F. Pettigrew of Pettigrew and Worley, who also designed the... READ MORE
Highland Park Independent School District Schools
Bradfield Elementary School – 4300 Southern Avenue (Highland Park), University Park Elementary School – 3505 Amherst Avenue (University Park), and Hyer Elementary School – 3920 Caruth Boulevard (Highland Park)
Three historic and architecturally significant schools in the Highland Park Independent School District are up for proposed replacement as part of this fall’s bond election. The two cities of Highland Park and University Park do not have an established mechanism for protecting historic architecture. As a result, these three schools have been deemed inadequate to... READ MORE
Historic Cemeteries in Dallas
Citywide
The final resting place of many of Dallas’ founders and early residents are seeing the ravages of time and a lack of resources for proper maintenance and upkeep. Some of Dallas’ historic cemeteries date back to the 1800s, including McAdams in Oak Cliff, McCree in Lake Highlands, and Pioneer in downtown. Thanks to a grant... READ MORE
Low-Rise Historic Downtown Buildings
Downtown
Smaller historic buildings downtown, 2 to 4 stories in height, are rapidly vanishing due to development pressure, with four between Elm and Main Streets demolished for new development just last year. These smaller historic buildings often date to the early 1900s when Dallas was developing as a commercial center. They are tied to the retail... READ MORE
Salvation Army Building
6500 Harry Hines Boulevard (Medical Center)
Originally home to the Great National Life Insurance Company this office building, completed in 1963, is an outstanding example of the 1960’s garden style office complexes which sprang up around Dallas. Designed by Grayson Gill, it has a unique projecting screen of diamond shaped panels giving the building a distinctive look in contrast to the... READ MORE
Embrace Dallas
This public/private partnership with the City of Dallas will map not only our important architectural resources, but also identify the public spaces, monuments, and locations of significant events and people that have shaped us into a vibrant, thriving city. It’s made for everyone — from public officials to businesses leaders, private organizations and regular citizens — so that we can learn about the fabric of our city in a way we never have before. Doing so will shape development decisions, city regulations, and even our own understanding of what it means to be a Dallasite.
©2023 Preservation Dallas
This website has been funded in part by a grant from the Fondren Fund for Texas of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.