Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2010 Page: 3
52 p. : ill. ; 26 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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J e history of Dallas is filled with fascinating
but forgotten stories, as the recent 11th
Annual Legacies Dallas History Conference
reminded us. Often the individuals, events, or
sites were well known at one time, and they may
even have had some long term impact. But they
have slipped into obscurity. This issue includes
articles based on three papers presented at the
conference.
Driving north on Stemmons Freeway,
glancing east at the Infomart and its parking lot,
who knew that an amusement park called Long's
Lake once occupied that site? Ben Long, who
created the lake and promoted it as a destination,
is certainly present in most local histories, a La
Reunion settler and later twice mayor of Dallas
who met a tragic end in a barroom shootout.
But the existence of Long's Lake seems to be
documented only in a few maps, postcards, and
newspaper clippings. George Cook has brought
together these fragments to tell a long lost story.
After reading his article, those passing the Info-
mart will look at the site with new eyes.
Speaking of driving, did you ever wonder
where automatic traffic lights originated? They
are so much a part of daily urban life that we
tend to take them for granted-except when
they are out of service.As Steven Butler explains,
they were invented right here in Dallas by
Henry "Dad" Garrett, who had been something
of an auto pioneer in this area, operating the first
car dealership in Texas. He also invented a radio
broadcast system that became WRR, still verymuch a valued part of our local airwaves. Both
inventions came rather late in Garrett's life,
earning him a nickname as the "Wizard of
Dallas, Texas." But few remember him today.
Butler's research rescues him from obscurity to
restore him to the place he well deserves in local
history.
Dallas area residents associated in some way
with Southern Methodist University-as stu-
dents, faculty, administrators, or alumni-must
number in the thousands. And SMU has been
busy informing them that it is about to begin
celebrating its centennial. Founded in 1911, the
university opened the doors of Dallas Hall to
undergraduates in September 1915. But who
knew that SMU once operated a medical
school? And that it functioned near downtown
for four years before the official opening of the
school in 1915? The donation of a sheepskin
diploma to SMU by the daughter of a graduate
of that medical school inspired Nancy Skochdo-
pole to research this forgotten part of the uni-
versity's history.
For all three of these stories, information was
found in area libraries and archives, and espe-
cially in the columns of local newspapers. (And
all local historians owe a debt of gratitude to The
Dallas Morning News for digitizing the microfilm
of its back issues, greatly simplifying research.)
The stories weren't lost, in the sense of being
erased from the record; they were just forgotten.
We're pleased to be able to share them with our
readers.
-Michael V HazelSpring 2010 LEGACIES 3
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Dallas Historical Society. Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2010, periodical, 2010; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146051/m1/5/: accessed July 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dallas Historical Society.