UNIVERSITY PARK, TEXAS. University Park is
on U.S. Highway 75, and Loop 12 five miles
north of downtown Dallas in central Dallas
County, bordered by the city of Dallas on
the north and east and Highland Park to the
south. Its name originated because of its
location adjacent to Southern Methodist University.
SMU officially opened in 1915, and homes
were built around the campus to house teachers
and staff of the university. Water for the
campus came from artesian wells and an overhead
storage tank, and sewage lines were connected
to Dallas's lines in Oak Lawn. Homes in the
area were joined to the university water
and sewer lines, and homeowners paid the
university for these services. By 1924, with
more than 380 homes in the area, the university
could no longer afford to supply water and
sewer lines to residential areas.
The cities of Dallas and Highland Park refused
to annex the University Park area because
of the financial burden of laying new sewer
lines and supplying garbage removal and police
and fire protection. Therefore, in 1924 the
city of University Park was incorporated
with a population of 1,200. The first city
government consisted of a mayor and five
aldermen, but on April 6, 1926, residents
voted to adopt a commission form of city
government, which the city still retained
in 1992. On August 16, 1924, a $150,000 bond
election was held to set up fire protection
and to finance water and street improvements.
The town organized its own garbage-disposal
system in 1925. Snider Plaza, a popular shopping
center, opened in 1927, although it remained
largely undeveloped throughout the Great
Depression. The population of University
Park grew rapidly, mirroring the growth of
Southern Methodist University and the nearby
cities of Dallas and Highland Park.
By 1945 University Park had an estimated
population of 18,000 and 120 businesses.
In that year the city of Dallas attempted
to annex the cities of Highland Park
and
University Park, commonly referred
to as
the Park Cities, but was turned down
by a
narrow margin. After their refusal
of a merger,
Dallas used its home rule powers to
annex
territory adjacent to University Park,
cutting
off all land for expansion. University
Park
still relied on the city of Dallas
for such
services as water and sewage treatment,
but
in 1947 the Park Cities set up their
own
Water Control and Improvement District
to
take over these functions. A water-purification
plant, reservoir, and pressure tank
were
completed in 1950. Because it was surrounded
by Dallas, University Park was prevented
from annexing land for growth as most
communities
in Dallas County did, and its area
remained
3.7 square miles. Few lots were left
vacant
on which to build new homes.
The population rose from 4,200 in 1930
to
14,458 in 1940 and 23,823 in 1950.
Between
1950 and 1990 it fluctuated moderately,
reaching
an estimated 28,500 in 1956. In that
year
University Park had eleven churches
and seven
parks. Its schools formed part of the
Highland
Park school system, an arrangement
still
in effect in 1992. The 1990 population
of
22,259 was primarily white, 3 percent
Hispanic,
and 1 percent black. The university
remained
the largest employer, and businesses
continued
to be primarily university or student
related. |
HIGHLAND PARK, TEXAS. Highland Park, on State
Highway 289 and State Highway 75 four miles
north of downtown Dallas in central Dallas
County, is a 2.2-square-mile residential
"island city" surrounded by Dallas
on the south, east, and west and University
Park on the north. In 1889 the land was bought
by a group of Philadelphia investors, the
Philadelphia Place Land Association, for
an average price of $377 an acre, or $500,000
total. Henry Exall, acting as agent, intended
to develop the land along Turtle Creek as
Philadelphia Place, an area of exclusive
housing modeled after parkland housing in
Philadelphia. He laid out gravel roads and
built a dam across Turtle Creek to form Exall
Lake before the panic of 1893 destroyed the
Dallas land boom and ended the development.
Exall lost everything except his horse and
some of the land. He subsequently began a
breeding farm, Lomo Alto Horse Farm. During
the 1890s Exall Lake was a favorite picnic
destination for Dallasites. Bass and perch
abounded in it, and a steamboat operated
on it. Exall bred horses with his stallion
Electrite until 1906, when John Armstrong
bought the land for a residential development.
Armstrong had been a partner of Thomas L.
Marsalis in the development of Oak Cliff
but sold out to open a meatpacking business.
With the sale of his business he invested
the money in 1,326 acres of the former Philadelphia
Place land to develop under the name Highland
Park. Armstrong, along with his sons-in-law
Hugh Prather and Edgar Flippen, gave Highland
Park its name because of its location on
high land overlooking downtown Dallas. The
investors hired Wilbur David Cook, a landscape
architect of Beverly Hills, California, to
design the layout. In addition, George E.
Kessler, who designed Fair Park and much
of downtown Dallas, was hired to help in
planning and development. Twenty percent
of the original land was set aside for parks.
The first 100-acre addition was begun in
1907 and promoted with the slogan "Beyond
the City's Dust and Smoke." Later appeared
the slogan "It's Ten Degrees Cooler
in Highland Park." The second development
in Highland Park, the Lakeside addition,
was developed in 1910.
In 1913 Highland Park asked Dallas for annexation
but was refused. The 500 residents therefore
voted to incorporate, on November 29, 1913.
The incorporation officially took place in
1915, when the population was 1,100; W. A.
Fraser was the first mayor. Highland Park
set up its own waterworks, which it operated
until 1932. In 1915 the third addition to
Highland Park was built, and two years later
a fourth. After two years a long annexation
controversy began. The city of Dallas regretted
its earlier refusal to annex Highland Park
and began a battle that lasted until 1945,
when Dallas was turned down for the last
time. The last major land development in
Highland Park, Highland Park West, was built
in 1924. In 1931 Highland Park Village, the
first shopping center of its type in the
United States, was constructed in Highland
Park.
By 1933 Highland Park had a population of
8,422 and twelve businesses. Its resident
population was large, but few businesses
and no industry operated in the city. From
1932 to 1950 Highland Park bought water from
the city of Dallas, but in 1950 Highland
Park and University Park, the "Park
Cities," began their own waterworks.
In 1949 Highland Park had four elementary
schools, a junior high, and a high school.
Later the Park Cities combined their school
districts, as they did their newspapers.
The Park Cities News was established in 1938
and the Park Cities People in 1981. In the
late 1950s Highland Park had a population
high of 12,900, before beginning its slow
decline to its 1990 level of 8,739. After
its attempt to annex Highland Park was defeated,
Dallas annexed the land around it. Highland
Park was forced to grow only by building
houses on the few remaining vacant lots,
or by tearing down old buildings to construct
new ones. In the 1989-90 school year the
Highland Park Independent School District
had four elementary schools, one middle school,
and one high school for its 4,066 students.
In 1990 Highland Park had strict zoning ordinances.
Its reputation for quality housing was enhanced
by the abundance of parks running along Turtle
Creek and by the Dallas Country Club, which
is in Highland Park.
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