| Dallas County Pioneer Association, Founded 1875, Reorganized 1979 P O Box 12496 Dallas TX 75225 972-260-9334 dcpa1875@gmail.com From the President  Greetings All, Our upcoming meeting will be great. The speaker Mark Rice is outstanding. We are in an EXCEPTIONALLY large room where you can put as much distance between you and others as you feel is necessary. Please be in thought about serving on the Board as this December is election time again. I would welcome someone stepping up and running for President. If you are interested in serving in any capacity, please let any Board member know. Next quarter I will announce the Nominating Committee. If you have not done so, please remember to pay your 2021 dues and 2020 dues if you did not pay them. Send them to DCPA at P O Box 12496 Dallas TX 75225. $20 for an individual and $30 for a couple per year. Fun facts: COMING OF THE RAILROAD.The first rail line for the Houston and Texas Central (H&TC) was laid into Dallas in 1872. This brought Sanger Bros department store, E.M. Kahn clothiers, wholesale grocer Jules Schneider, and other commercial establishments, making Dallas an important regional shopping locale and distribution point. AND THEN THE CROSSROAD. More significantly, Dallas became a rail crossroads the following year, thanks to State Rep. John W. Lane’s rider to the Texas and Pacific grant requiring the railroad to cross the H&TC at a point within a mile of “Brow-der Springs, which happened to be Dallas’ water source at what is now Old City Park. The extension of the T&P line to Fort Worth was delayed another three years by an economic depression. (From D Magazine) “May God be with us till we meet again”, Jim Bookhout, President From the Vice President  Good day to all our Association members, I hope everyone is doing well. We are excited to have a full meeting on June 3rd, 2021, and we hope everyone can attend. The December meeting was very good, due in part to the kindness of Highland Oaks Church of Christ in letting us use their facility. The room we use is large and well appointed and the parking is convenient, on the west side of the campus. All of us in this Association share a common interest in our local history and a strong belief that it is imperative to keep that history alive. In furtherance of these goals, I would ask each of you to mention our Association to your friends and family and anyone else you should encounter who might be interested in attending a meeting and possibly joining. This is truly a great Association, our events are always fun and instructive, but we can still really benefit from the support and energy of new people. Please come out and enjoy some good food from Ernesto’s and our speaker, Mark Rice. Call and make your dinner reservations 972-260-9334. Please keep in mind that when you make reservations the Association will have to pay for your meal whether you attend the meeting or not, which means you will be responsible for paying for the meal even if you do not to attend if you make a reservation. I look forward to seeing you all on June 3rd! Best Regards, Joe WattsVice President Please join us for Our Next Meeting on June 3 Highland Oaks Church of Christ 10805 Walnut Hill Lane(Between Jupiter and Plano) Dallas 75238 Call and make your dinner reservations 972-260-9334. OUR JUNE SPEAKER – Mark Rice  Mark Rice grew up in Dallas during the 1950s and ‘60s before attending college at the University of Texas at Arlington. After earning a degree in history, he entered the business world but maintained his passion for history. He has spent much of his career working among the buildings featured in this book. As a youngster, he developed an interest in historic downtown structures while accompanying his father, a court reporter, with an office in the Kirby Building. This background, along with a degree in history and long-time interests in photography and architecture led to the extensive research that went into the writing of this compelling story. His first book, Downtown Dallas: Romantic Past, Modern Renaissance was published in 2007, for those interested in “the bankers, oil men, cotton brokers, merchants, and insurance titans who created the future and built the monumental structures that reflected their success, chronicling the historic buildings in the heart of the city.A second book, Dallas at Dawn, was published in 2019, expanding the historical narrative to Oak Cliff, East Dallas, Highland Park, and North Dallas. Mark and his family still live in Dallas. Mark says “Where my previous book was confined to downtown Dallas and its great buildings, this new book also includes the early suburbs of East Dallas, South Dallas, Oak Lawn and Highland Park. This book also relates dozens of stories and anecdotes about historic events, prominent people and important structures in early Dallas.”  Rice’s latest is self-published, not available online or in bookstores; you can email him at Mandrice51@gmail.com for copies, which sell for $25. A bargain. Book Auction for the next meeting! Here are the books we will auction next: Women and the Creation of Urban Life Dallas, Texas, 1843-1920 by Elizabeth York Enstam Golden Prologue to the Future A history of Highland Park Methodist Church by Doris Miller Johnson Preston Hollow by Eva Potter Morgan The Great State Fair of Texas by Nancy Wiley  And a Original Painting  On our Website If you haven’t been to our website lately please take a look, there are articles about the Pioneers of Dallas County, Pictures of Dallas’ Past, stories about churches and biographies of some of the people who built and lived here in Dallas’ beginnings. https://dallaspioneer.org/ The officers and members of the association hope you are staying safe and healthy. If you have changed your mailing address, e-mail or phone numbers, please let Sheryl Curlee know by sending a note to DCPA1875@gmail.com If you haven’t already paid your dues or you would like to make a donation,please make your payments to: Dallas County Pioneer Association PO Box 12496 Dallas, TX 75225 Membership We welcome new members Beleta Culp Grant and Mary Shanz Simmons of the Rylie Cemetery Association. Beverly Cox Turner and Charles Allumbaugh, who joined at the Pioneer Picnic, are descendants of the Hunnicutt Family. We look forward to meeting them at the June 3 meeting, along with the other new members, Marshall Hodge, John H. and Beverly J.Combs, Monica Newbury. If you have friends or neighbors who are interested in history please invite them to a meeting, so they can also join us to enjoy the speakers and learn about the history of Dallas. Gwyneva WintersMembership Chairperson Cemetery Report by Kathy Ann ReidIn March at the Wesley Cockrell Cemetery, we found a house under construction next to the cemetery. A large dumpster and port-a-potty might have encroached on the cemetery land were it not for the cemetery fence. Several board members, Marsha Leach and her husband (John Beeman family descendants) worked. We made contact with a neighbor and will cooperate with him to facilitate a neighborhood cleaning of the cemetery this fall. We cleared brush around tombstones and treated fire ants. The weather was heating up in the afternoon when we finished. At the McKinney Family Cemetery in April, the fenced portion of the cemetery appeared to have not been mowed for two years and the remainder of the acre outside the fence is wild growth. Six of John Beeman’s family descendants worked and several board members attended. We made contact with two neighbors and met one of them who might offer help in the future. Later the same day Marsha’s sister and brother-in-law, Marla and Wally (the dynamic duo), went back with their brush hog and left the cemetery in great shape. On May 1, although rain threatened and wet ground discouraged, the Annual Pioneer Picnic at the W. W. Glover Cemetery drew twenty-five people including pioneer descendants and board members. A ninth-generation Dallas Texan descendant of pioneer Anna Hunnicutt Cox was there with her parents. The youngest (3 and 4 years) and most mature (87 and 88 years) descendants enjoyed themselves. Marsha posed and answered questions on the cemetery, comparing locations of actual tombstones with drawings from the past. Our Membership Chairman, Gwyneva Winters, was instrumental in receiving donations for maintenance and membership applications. Helen J. Sullivan greeted, recorded attendance and told her history stories. A good time was had by all. I am sad to report that at the Pleasant Mound “Public” Cemetery the wrought iron fence (recently repaired by the Dallas Parks Dept.) is being vandalized. Apparently vandals are systematically removing the iron bars along Buckner Blvd. Marsha analyzed our cemeteries, separated and listed them in categories. Her list will be available at the June General Meeting. We hope to see you there. And if you need a quick history fix…Jennifer Anderson, a senior planner in the city’s Historic Preservation department, recently posted this item about newly discovered photos taken by the city’s official photographer — “back when we used to have one,” she said in an email. Most are from the 1970s and ’80s. But many are much, much older. And 139 photos can be seen here, on the city’s Flickr page. All full size. And ALL DOWNLOADABLE. |
