Elm Street, Looking West from Griffin

by Paula Bosse

elm-west-from-griffin_UTA-special-collThe 1000 block of Elm Street: small business central

by Paula Bosse

A really incredible view of Elm Street, probably from the late-teens to the early-20s. (Almost all of the businesses seen in this photo were listed in the 1922 city directory.) The landmark businesses seen here — all founded in the 19th century — would be Huey & Philp Hardware, Charles Ott (gunsmith) (the sign can be seen just above the Huey & Philp sign at the right), and down the street on the corner of Lamar, the beautiful 8-story Sanger Bros. department store (now part of El Centro). I know it’s a like hearing a broken record, but I really wish downtown Dallas still had some of this old, quirky flavor. (Click picture for VERY LARGE image.)

And here’s a shot of the same view, but street-level:

elm-street_UTA

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Photos from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, Special Collections, University of Texas at Arlington, accessible here and here.

If you want to see what the same view looks like today, click here. Personally, I prefer the “before” to the “after.” I’m generally a fan of tall buildings, but all those skyscrapers absolutely decimated street-level businesses, which, sadly, seem to be gone for good. You can’t undo a skyscraper.

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Copyright © 2015 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.