Question about Uptown (historical) (Dallas, McKinney: hotel, houses, construction)

[HousesGreenCows]

Haven't seen a thread here about this, so here goes - I'm guessing that the Uptown area is quite a bit different now from what it was, say, 20 - 30 years ago. What was that area like back in the day, and when/how did it start to change to what it is today? For the record, I've been to Dallas once ever in my life, as a little kid back in the mid 70s so I can't exactly trust my memory on this one TIA.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by HousesGreenCows

Haven't seen a thread here about this, so here goes - I'm guessing that the Uptown area is quite a bit different now from what it was, say, 20 - 30 years ago. What was that area like back in the day, and when/how did it start to change to what it is today? For the record, I've been to Dallas once ever in my life, as a little kid back in the mid 70s so I can't exactly trust my memory on this one TIA.

Very different! Google Little Mexico in Dallas. That's what I remember from the area.

[pepper131]

I used to love the look of the State Thomas area in Uptown - small wood frame bungalows. Some are still standing but most have been knocked down for high rise apts, etc.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by pepper131

I used to love the look of the State Thomas area in Uptown - small wood frame bungalows. Some are still standing but most have been knocked down for high rise apts, etc.

Yes! My mother had a friend back in the `80s who either rented or owned one of those homes. That was back before it was cool!

[DitsyD]

This is rough, but a little time-line of some events in the area.

1980s
Southland Corp buys approximately 160 acres of land from more than 1,000 individually owned pieces of property in North Dallas, planning twin towers on either side of Central with a connecting skybridge over Central. They tear down all existing structures and start construction of the east tower. Then came an economic recession.

1986
Crescent Hotel and Complex opens. Hard Rock Cafe opens. Sfuzzi opens.

1989
Streetcars start running. CityPlace completed.

1990
Southland Corp sells off the property they own west of Central (roughly 20 square blocks of bare land)

2001
West Village opens

[TrueDat]

Parts of Uptown had a large African-American population going back to when it was Freedman's Town, which is why the black cemetery is still there at Central and Blackburn. I'm sure most current residents have no idea how integral this area was to the black community in early Dallas, that life in Uptown didn't begin and end with Lemon Bar.

This is a pretty good thumbnail history of Uptown:

Uptown's tony present a big leap from its start as swampy Frog Town | The Dallas Morning News 125th Anniversary - News for Dallas, Texas - The Dallas Morning News

Freedman's Cemetery Memorial, Dallas - Bing Attractions

[ChristieP]

The area around the American Airlines Center, the W hotel and Victory Plaza was a Dallas Power & Light generating station. My dad worked there until about 2001, or whenever the plant was torn down to make way for the arena. That's why the street down there is named Hi-Line Drive!

[rantanamo]

KERA has a great documentary on North Dallas Freedman's Town and Deep Ellum, though I can't seem to find them anywhere.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by rantanamo

KERA has a great documentary on North Dallas Freedman's Town and Deep Ellum, though I can't seem to find them anywhere.

Dallas Morning News ran a good article (maybe a series? I can't recall) on Freedman's Town years ago.

[Lakewooder]

Southwest part of "Uptown" was called "Little Mexico", Southeast - Freedman's Town also called "State-Thomas" but that's a bit manufactured. There was a little commerical area near on Hall near Central Expressway which had the delicious Henderson Chicken Shack. Along McKinney most people called that "Oak Lawn". The Quadrangle shopping center built in the late 60s/early 70s started the transition. For many years the mostly burned Trinity Methodist Church was allowed to stand near the site of Sambuca and the Ritz - one of my Art History profs at SMU, Mary Vernon, proposed that it be known as the first official historical ruins in Dallas.