....... .....,...GACIES A His to J ~f Journal for Dnllns & North Centml Texns DEPARTMENTS Deadly Dallas Streets 4 l:lv RusTY Wu.I.IAMS From the Editor Out of Many, One 3 18 Bv M ARK RtcE Photo Credits The Impact of Transportation 26 on Historic Ethnic Neighborhoods 56 Bv I'ATtuctA Ilt cKs, JuA tTA II . 1/\Nt;'l., A t>Rt cK Lo ~;ssBmtc Contributors 38 Braniff Airways Took Dallas to New Heights 59 Bv D AVI D PttEztost Dallas Then and Now George Schrader: 50 Conversation with a History Maker 60 'l'tlANSCRIBED AND WITEIJ BY STIII'IIEN F ACIN All pn:vions issues of LRxncies fiu m 19R\I through 201 7 .1re online Jt the University of North Texas Portal to Texas History. The address is: h ttp:lI tt"xashistory.um.edu/ explore/ coll <•ctions/LHJNT Historic Ethnic Neighborhoods g~borhoods are typically created and Two historic ethnic Dallas neighborhoods­ int-luenccd by a number of fa ctors like geography, O ld North Dallas and La DJjada-demonstrJtc <:cono mics, and the availability of tra nsportation. hovv these various fac tors came together and However, tor people of color who lived in Dallas how decisions pertaining to transportation made prior to the latter part of the t\oventicth century, by the Anglo population both assisted and Llter the law of segregation and the dominant social threatened these neighborhoods. O ld North attitudes of the much larger Anglo community Dallas, w hich was located just north ofdowntown, heavily inAuenced the origination and existence was established in the 1fl60s as J freedmen's of minority neighborhoods. These rules <md community, and it was, until about 1970, the customs not only determined w here ;md why home of much of Dallas's bbck middle class. La these communities existed, but w hat happened l3~jada (which continues to exist immediately to them over time. 1 west of downtown) came into existence during LEGACIES Spring 2018 27 the 1920s to1940s and has generally always been a Old North D allas-for :.~11 practical purposes, no community for working. class Hispanics. Located longer exists, and the number of people who c:m at the end of the Continental Bridge w hich recall w hat it once was is rapidly diminishing.The arches over the Trinity R.iver, the community is other neighborhood-La Bajada- is now ironi­ appropriately named " Ia bajada," which means cally being threatened by the same access ac ross "the desc~::nt" or "a drop at the bottom of the the Trinity River that initiall y led to its creation. bridge." Discussing these neighborhoods now :md ho~ W hile the two neighborhoods differ from they each came to be w ill help ensure that fi.1ture one another in location, populations, and history, populations will know their importance and the there are still significant similarities between the influences and stories behind them. two. In addition, one of these communities- Old North Dallas Of the two neighborhoods, O ld North Dallas ·workers, and boxcar loaders. Perhaps the most is not only the oldest, hut it was also one of the · prestigious of these railroad jobs was that of being 2 first African-American neighborhoods in Dallas. J Pullman porter. Pullman sleeping cars were It subsequently became noted as being the center regarded as being "a hotel on wheels," and the "of black life and culture ... and the birthplace of porters were the people who made things happen progressive ideas, the nucleus of black leadership, on a train and attended to its passengers (Pullman and a place tlut cultivated the hopes and dreams porters also became the first Afi·ica n-American of Dallas's African-America n population." 1 labor union to he recognized by the AFL-CJO). Initially located ncar a bbck cemetery at Harry Boswell , w ho was a freed slave, built what is now Lemmon and Central Expressway, one of the first homes in the an:a.' M any of the the community quickly grew to more than 300 original homeowners had no alternative hut ro residents."' Over time, the con1.nmnity continued build their own homes. Some hired fi·iends to to grow, and at its peak, its boundaries generally hdp with construction. Shotgun-style frame approximated present-day Ross Avenue on homes populated the area, but as the community the south, Pearl Street on the west, M cKinney geographically expanded in the 1920s, many of Avenue-Woodside-Weldon on the north, the largerVictori:m-er:t homes that had originally and H askell on the cast. Several of the streets been built on State and Thomas Streets for Anglos within the community (R outh, M ason, Fuqua, began being purchased by black doctors, educa tors, Campbell, and Winn, for example) were n :~ m ed and businessmen, and others were converted after some of its first residents. into multi-family housing to accommodate the A m:yor contributor to the neighborhood's community's growing population.o growth was the arrival of the H ouston & Texas Because r:~ c i al segregation was so entrenched Central railroad in 1872. Although this railroad in Dallas, the community bega n to develop its bisected the neighborhood, black laborers first own businesses and institutions. In 1925 Dr. came to the area to help build the railro :~d, :1nd W R . M cMillan opened a medical facility (the then once construction was completed, the McMillan Sanitarium) at Hall and State Street fo r railroad continued to ofier Afi·i can Americans residents. Papa-Dad's Old-Fashioned Barbecue, employment opportunities as cooks, roundhouse the State Theater, Smith Brothers Drug Store, and 28 LEGACIES Spring 2018 The McMillan Sanitarium at Hall and State streets was one of the few medical facilities available to African Americans in the first half of the twentieth century. But it was also one of many blacl<-owned and operated businesses and institutions that flourished in Old North Dallas. R ai n's Grocery Store served the area. T he Lone at the park growing up, and many carnivals, plays, Star H otel (2602 State Street) and the Powell H otel and concerts were held there. T he park itself was and Court (3 115 State Street) provided accommo­ named after the R ev. Allen R . Griggs, who h:~d dations for out-of-town visitors. 7 been a former sb ve :1 nd then later led the N ew Griggs Park, built in 1915, was a popular H ope Baptist C hmch on Hall Street, helped build social and recreational destination with a swim­ Dall :~s's first high school for blacks, and published ming pool, bathhouse, baiJ field, and a playground. the stare's first African- American newspaper.'1 T he park's pL1yground was particularly important C hildren went to school Jt B. F. D:~r re ll for children; as resident D r. Robert Prince noted, Elementary and Booker T Washington High he got Ius "first taste of segret,'<ltion" when he was School. Since Darrell Elcmemary did not have told he couldn't use the swings :1 t an east DaiJas llluch of a playground, Griggs Park was often park, and Griggs w:~s "one of the few places where used for recess. High school stu dents walked to you could swing. And we had seesaws."M Baseball Cobb Stadium on Harry Hines to watch football Hall of F:~ me member Ernie Banks played baseball g:~mes. LEGACIES Spring 2018 29 The Moorland YMCA on Flora Street served as a social center for the Old North Dallas community, as well as the site where young men could e ngage in athletics. The Moorland YMCA was another of the city's black p o pu l :~ ti o n-l i ve d in the important social center for the comnntnity.When neighborhood.11 Ag<~ i n, because of segreg:~ t ion , constructed in 1930 on Flora Street, it was the only there was more econo mi c diversity in the YMC A fo r Afi·ica n Americ:ms in the southwest, neighborhood than might be seen 111 a and it was called "a b e:~co n for the North Dalbs neighborhood today, with business owners and community." It was especiall y important since, other professionals living in close proximity to "in a city that offered few places outside of unskilled workers. Or. l ee G resham Pinkston, fo r church for Afi·ican Americans to congrcgarc, the instance, lived in the neighborhood; he became building b ec <~ m e the location where professionals the fi rst black doctor on the stafF at St. Paul's could meet, d ubs and organizations could come Hospital in 1954.12 together, and young men could play and engage Many fam ili es could not :lfto rd ro own a in cxrracurricubr activities." It served as the car. H owever. b ec:~ u se it was possible to walk to gymnasiums for bl:tck schools th:u lacked Jthletic so many places and because of the city's street fa cili ties, and it was :1 pbcc w here sc hools even car and bus system , that was nor as important held their proms. w as one might think today. Street car fa res were By 1940, about 16,000 people--one-third three cents. Bus R oute 4 (for Highla nd Park) and 30 LEGACI ES Spring 2018 This aerial photograph shows the future route of North Central Expressway, with the old railroad tracl<s removed. Roseland Homes, a"11ousing project near Hall and Washington streets, is visible at the right, with B.