Triple Underpass — ca. 1936
by Paula Bosse
The Gateway to Dallas, or the the Gateway to Oak Cliff?
by Paula Bosse
Above, a fantastic photo showing the new Triple Underpass, about 1936, with the view toward Oak Cliff. (Compare this with a similar view, from the 1950s, here.)
Below, a little earlier, with the view to the east, back toward town.
The triple underpass was built by the Austin Bridge & Road Company between 1934 and 1936, finishing up just in time to welcome the onslaught of visitors to the Texas Centennial Exposition. I encourage you to visit the company’s public Facebook post here, which includes these and other great photos of this Dallas landmark (including a “then and now” comparison and a history of their involvement in the project). Below is an excerpt from that post:
Once called the “Gateway to Dallas,” the triple underpass near Dealey Plaza was built by Austin Bridge Company and Austin Road Company starting in 1934. The underpass, a joint project with the Texas Highway Department and City of Dallas, created access to the western edge of downtown Dallas under the Union Terminal tracks. Contending with up to 80 trains a day complicated the job, requiring close cooperation with the railway companies. The triple underpass was hailed as a modern marvel, built of concrete with square balusters in a handsome art-deco style. It was unveiled with great excitement in 1936, during Texas Centennial celebrations.
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Sources & Notes
Top image is a U.S. Bureau of Public Roads photo showing the new underpass, looking to the west.
Both photos and the excerpt are from a post on the Austin Bridge & Road Facebook page, which you can find here.
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Copyright © 2022 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
I understand that Dealey Plaza was the location of a Masonic Lodge. Do you know where it was? Was it located anywhere in the 1950’s picture?
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[…] Check out this same view from about 1936 here. […]
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Another great post.
I wonder how long those little trees were there. I have seen photos from the 1940s and they were all gone by then.
Here is another before and after completion comparison from 35,000 Days in Texas (https://archive.org/details/35000daysintexas0000ache/page/n281/mode/1up):
Unfortunately I didn’t see a date given for the photos. It looks like the before was taken pretty early in the construction and since the book was published in 1938, the after was taken before that date.
There are little trees in the after completion photo but they don’t look exactly like the ones in the photo you shared.
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The Triple Underpass is the Gateway to Oak Cliff.
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[…] it’s such a great photograph. I wish I had a better copy to share! It shows the brand-new “Triple Underpass — ca. 1936,” looking toward Oak […]
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[…] “TRIPLE UNDERPASS — ca. 1936” […]
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