Flashback : Dallas

4500 block and/or 5800 block of Lovers and/or W. Lovers Lane

by Paula Bosse

The photo above is a detail from an ad for some of the businesses along the Miracle Mile (Lovers Lane, between about Douglas and what is now the toll road). The caption is: “The fabulous Miracle Mile looking west toward Douglas Ave.” (Surely this is a view to the east?) The same view today can be seen on Google Street View here. The ad appeared in a March 1954 magazine. At that time, the photographer would have been standing in front of Roscoe White’s Easy Way restaurant (5806 W. Lovers Lane). Here’s the ad (click to see a larger image):

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Shop on the MIRACLE MILE! 
On Lovers Lane from Douglas Ave. to Cotton Belt Railroad tracks
PLENTY OF PARKING!!!
The following merchants invite you to shop with them: 

Beef ‘N Bun No. 1, 4500 Lovers Lane 
Bernard’s Carpets, 4445 Lovers Lane 
The Book Shelf, 4354 Lovers Lane 
Choice Cleaners, 4530 Lovers Lane 
Ernstrom’s Record Shop, 4356 Lovers Lane 
Florentine Shop, 4437 Lovers Lane 
Guildcraft Furniture Studio, 4433 Lovers Lane 
Hodges Photographer, 4514 Lovers Lane 
House of Carpets, 4408 Lovers Lane 
House of Lamps, 5812 W. Lovers Lane 
Jean & Morry’s, 4437 Lovers Lane 
Margie’s Dress Shop, 4508 Lovers Lane 
Miracle Mile Pharmacy, 4400 Lovers Lane 
Miracle Mile Stationers, 4506 Lovers Lane 
New York Bakery & Delicatessen, 4412 Lovers Lane 
Park Cities Hardware & Paint Co., 4338 Lovers Lane
Party Bazaar & Gift Shop, 4439 Lovers Lane 
Peek’s Auto and Appliance Store, 4365 Lovers Lane
Rae Ann Shop, 4417 Lovers Lane 
Seidel’s Boys’ and Girls’ Apparel, 4504 Lovers Lane
Squire — The Man’s Shop, 4441 Lovers Lane 
Stone’s Buster Brown Shoe Store, 4449 Lovers Lane

Every day is shopping day on the Miracle Mile
Open Thursday night — open Thursday night — open Thursday night

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So. Lovers Lane. What’s the deal, Lovers? Your numbering system is insane. For instance, in the photo above, Choice Cleaners (second business on the left) is at 4530 Lovers Lane. It is directly opposite House of Lamps, which is, inexplicably, at 5812 West Lovers Lane. Not only are the block numbers nowhere near the same, the numbers of addresses on both sides of the street are even. There are businesses on both sides of the street, but that block has no odd-numbered addresses. …But only until you pass Beck’s Fried Chicken at 5820 West Lovers (you can see it on the photo at the far right, next door to AAA Liquor at 5814 W. Lovers Lane). Once you cross Lomo Alto, heading east, the numbering suddenly starts at 4455 Lovers Lane (Brady’s Texaco Service Station). West Lovers Lane is no more. You’ve just lost West Lovers Lane and 14 blocks. You might be in the Twilight Zone. I’m pretty sure the whole University Park-thing is the reason, but, oh my god. My brain melts down every time I try to make sense of this! Imagine not knowing your way around this part of town and seeing this confusing collection of signs after getting off the toll road:

For future reference, here is some even more confusing guidance, from the 1953 city directory. “WEST LOVERS LANE”:

PLAIN OL’ “LOVERS LANE”:

“EAST LOVERS LANE”:

Good luck keeping track of that. There will be a quiz. You might need a slide rule, a compass, and a bottle of aspirin.

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Sources & Notes

Ad is from the March 1954 issue of Town North magazine, a publication by and for super-boosters of the Park-Cities-and-Preston-Hollow area, which they were trying to get people to call “Town North.” It makes about as much sense as Lovers Lane’s numbering system, but it’s a cool magazine that lasted a few years and can be found in the Periodicals Collection of the Dallas History and Archives at the Dallas Public Library.

More on The Miracle Mile (with a handy map, if you’ve ever wondered what its “official” boundaries are) can be found in this Flashback Dallas post: “Stacy’s Lounge on The Miracle Mile — 1950.”

And, heck, here’s a post on Lovers Lane: “Dallas Is For Lovers.”

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Copyright © 2025 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.