I have spent a considerable number of hours in the Dallas Public Library researching the history of my house. I used the Central Library downtown, because it was easy to get to from my office. It was blissfully quiet -- I know, you think libraries are always quiet, but I can attest that sometimes they are not. Anyway, the librarians were happy to help me figure out where to go, and I had an article from my neighborhood association that I had saved that gave me some pointers on how to get started.
All records point to my house being built in 1929. I haven't looked for the construction plans yet, but it seems they are available... somewhere. At this point I haven't made any attempts at all to locate those. I have, though, researched my house from 1929 through 1975. This is bad to say, but it seems as though by 1975 not much of interest was being reported anymore. I guess the media had bigger things to report on by then.
So -- let's start at the beginning...
1929:
Construction. I know a little bit about my neighborhood. It was a pecan orchard, and a couple of blocks away was a dairy farm. If you look up and down the street you can see that the pecan trees are planted neatly in rows. The tree that is in my front yard is the "Grand Poo-bah" of all the trees on the street. We've estimated that it's likely around 100 years old.
Where the dairy farm used to be is a small elementary school now. And the farmhouse? It was picked up and moved, and it is two doors down from me. They bricked over the exterior after it was relocated. The house that is next door to the former farm house was the first house built on my street. In the backyard there is a small out building which was the real estate office for the neighborhood in the 1920's and 1930's. The lady who lived there had lived there most of her life -- she passed away last year. I had the privilege of chatting with her a couple of times with some other neighbors -- she was a delight! That house just recently sold, and we all had a great laugh at the real estate listing that described the out building as a real estate office -- it's true, it was, but today a good gust of wind could take it down! A little bit of history. I hope the new owners leave it there, but it seems unlikely.
1930- 1931:
My house was owned by a gentleman named Elzie, and he was married to Gladys. :::huge grin::: That's my mom's name. Elzie was the Assistant Manager at Brannan's Dyeing and Dry Cleaning. In 1931 I'll bet that Gladys cooked Elzie a special dinner -- or maybe he took her out to dinner -- he was promoted to Manager.
Side note: Elzie had two brothers. Dennis was a letter carrier (interesting they didn't call him a mail man...) and he had the same route for 20 years beginning in 1911. He retired in December 1938. The other brother, Walter, was a district clerk in Canton. I found a newspaper clipping about Dennis' retirement...
1932:
Elzie and Gladys sold the house to Scott and his wife Nettie. Scott was a Dallas Police Officer. Nettie didn't work.
1934-1935:
Scott was an Assistant Superintendent, Bureau of Identification, Dallas Police Department.
1939:
Nettie had a child -- I intend to research the birth and life of the child -- boy, girl, etc. but I haven't done it yet.
So that's the first decade of my house. Coming soon -- the 1940's!
