Mrs. Baird’s Bread Company Building

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 work force resided.

Roland W. Baird, son of the bakery founder, announced in February 1928 that designs for the $250,000 plant would be drawn by a New York firm that specialized in bakeries. The two-story solid brick commercial building that was built featured distinctive Prairie School detailing and produced 3,500 loaves of bread per hour.
Demand grew, and a $12,000 addition designed by Bertram C. Hill was placed in 1934 on the side and back of the structure, expanding the cooling, wrapping, and loading areas. Population growth after World War II outstripped production capacity, so Mrs. Baird’s built a new facility on North Central Expressway which opened in 1954 and has since been demolished. The historic building was sold in 1956 and housed a book cover manufacturing facility and a fabric company. The Mrs. Baird’s building was listed on the National Register in 1995, so it is eligible for both state and national preservation tax credits.

The 1919 and 1937 Mrs. Baird’s Bakeries in Fort Worth have also been demolished, leaving this as the earliest Mrs. Baird’s building in the Metroplex. The handsome bones of this solidly-built structure await re-development, but the current high asking price and lack of landmark protections for the site could forever banish memories of the smell of freshly-baked bread on this corner.