With the introduction of the streetcar in the late 1800s, the city of Dallas began to spread outward. Farms and cotton fields became prime real estate and neighborhoods were quickly developed to serve Dallas’ ever growing population. One of the earliest such suburbs was called Vickery Place.
Platted in 1911, Vickery Place was developed by the Works-Coleman Land Company, a land development firm owned by R. Vickery, J.E. Coleman, Osce Goodwin, J. Houston Miller and George W. Works. The neighborhood was served by the McMillan Avenue Streetcar which ran from Ross Avenue to Vickery Boulevard. As manager of the Dallas Street Railway, Works used his position to promote Vickery Place by printing advertisements on the back of streetcar tickets. Lots were sold by Works-Coleman in the neighborhood until the early 1940s.
Today, Vickery Place boasts one of the largest collections of early 20th century houses in Dallas. Popular architectural styles of early 1900s are all represented in the neighborhood, including: Craftsman, Tudor, Spanish, Colonial Revival and Prairie. Most houses are one- or two-story, constructed of brick or wood. Two-story brick duplexes, four-plexes and eight-plexes built in Mediterranean, Tudor and Prairie style are also seen throughout the neighborhood. Many of the houses in the neighborhood were constructed during the postwar housing boom. Concentrated to the north of the original streets, these houses are more traditional in style but are compatible in size and scale with the neighborhood’s earliest houses.
Vickery Place neighborhood is significant for its cohesive collection of early 20th century houses. Only a small number of Dallas neighborhoods possess houses from the early 1900s, and of those, very few retain the high degree of architectural and historic integrity seen in Vickery Place.
In 2006, Vickery Place became a City of Dallas Conservation District. The district is bounded by Laneri Avenue on the west, the alley north of Goodwin Avenue on the north, Greenville Avenue on the east and the alley south of Richard Avenue on the south.
Authors: Leslie T. Carey and Katherine Seale
Photographs: Vickery Place Neighborhood Association