Flashback : Dallas

The “Reservation”

by Paula Bosse

Another year has passed. I’ve been writing Flashback Dallas for 11 years now, and I surprise even myself when I say that I’m still as excited to learn new things about my hometown as I was when I started this blog in 2014. I am, somehow, approaching 1,500 posts. That’s a lot of murky water under the viaduct.

The high point of 2024 for me was that I finally became a “professional” historian — or at least someone who works full-time (for money!) in the history realm: I became a member of the staff of the Dallas History and Archives at the downtown Dallas Public Library. As you can imagine, this is a job where I am constantly distracted by cool stuff. Working for so long on the blog has prepared me quite a bit in assisting people with their own history research. I’ve met several very nice library customers who read Flashback Dallas, and their kind words have made fitting into a new job a lot easier.

I appreciate all of the support I’ve received over the years, both from longtime loyal readers as well as from casual visitors. Thank you! I hope there will be more to draw you back in 2025.

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These are the most popular Flashback Dallas posts of 2024, ranked in order by the number of page hits, comments, shares, etc. Read the full post by clicking the link in the title.

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1.  “SOUTH END ‘RESERVATION’ RED-LIGHT DISTRICT — ca. 1907” (January)

This is the clear winner of 2024. By such a wide margin that the number of views it got is almost the amount that the rest of the top 10 received combined. It’s one of the most popular posts I have ever written. It was only the second post of 2024, but it continued its unbeatable steamrolling throughout the entire year. It is my personal favorite of the year as well. Note to self: more vice history! The photo that started the whole thing is at the top of this page; a map showing the general area is above, with the blue star at the courthouse and the legal brothel “reservation” bounded in red.

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2.  “THE THREE WITCHES OF STEMMONS TOWER” (January)

This concerns a sort of urban legend/rite of passage for Dallas teens that I had never heard of until a few years ago. I had never seen what these “witches” looked like. But, now have, thanks to a reader who sent me this photo. I knew this one would do well, but maybe not as well as it did do!

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3.  SALIH’S, PRESTON CENTER: 1953-1977 (February)

Undying nostalgia for Salih’s barbecue drove this post — filled with photos from Dallas high school yearbooks — to #3. It’s another Dallas legend that passed me by entirely. Love for Salih’s has apparently never waned.

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4.  “THE CLOVERLEAF” (June)

It’s nice to know I’m not the only person who loved this aesthetically-pleasing/fun/scary/thrilling North Dallas highway feature!

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5.  “COL. McCOY’S RESIDENCE, COMMERCE & LAMAR — 1875” (May)

I was surprised that this post got as much attention as it did. It’s always fascinated me to see old photos of houses in what is now downtown Dallas. Like this photo showing Col. John C. McCoy’s home, which was built in 1852 at what is now Commerce and Lamar. Jump forward almost 175 years, and that pretty little house has been replaced by an asphalt parking lot, and there’s a McDonald’s in the back yard. My favorite thing about this post is finding the house pictured in the fabulous, meticulously drawn Brosius map from 1872,

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6.  “DR. ROSSER’S GASTON AVENUE RESIDENCE — 1912” (January)

This might be the most surprising post to make this list. Basically, I posted it last New Year’s Day, because the postcard featured in the post was mailed on the day wishing the recipient a happy new year. I actually think of this house almost every day, because I pass this corner (Gaston and Hill) on my drive to work. But the house is not spectacular, and the man who lived there — while important in Dallas’ medical history — is not terribly “sexy.” I’d like to think the post’s popularity might be because of the related story about the person the card is addressed to. We have had ongoing discussions at the library about the importance/necessity of transcribing postcards. I can see both sides of the issue, but, I have to say, I have found more interesting stories and bits of obscure information that I would never have known about had I not read the addresses or messages on the backs of what are seemingly ephemeral bits of mail. Like this one!

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7.  “THE FOREST THEATER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF — ca. 1912-1914” (March)

I felt guilty because it took me 9 years to write this post, having received this really interesting photograph from a reader all the way back in 2015. It took me forever to write down the short history of this little movie theater in South Dallas and make its confusing history readable. I hope I succeeded! It’s gratifying that so many people seemed to like it.

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8.  “THE HIGGINBOTHAM-PEARLSTONE BUILDING” (February)

This is the post I was researching when I stumbled upon the photo at the top of this page which caused me to detour from my “oh, wow, isn’t this a cool building that’s still standing in the West End — let me tell you about its history” to “OH WOW — THIS IS AMAZING — LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT BROTHELS!” In the end, both posts made the Top Ten!

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9.  “THE GRADING OF JUNIUS — 1903” (March)

This photo immediately made me wonder where it was taken — and what was that house up on what looks like a hill? That’s in Old East Dallas? Yep. I really enjoyed this one.

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10.  “OAK LAWN AVE. — KEEP ON TRUCKIN’ (1971) (March)

I didn’t expect this to be so popular, but even hippies deserve their day! I used to never include anything on the blog past 1969, because it just didn’t seem old enough. But this very-’70s artwork is now over 50 years old. I guess it means it is now “historical”!

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And that wraps up 2024. I look forward to learning new things about the history of Dallas in 2025. I hope you’ll check back in!

As always, thank you for reading, and Happy New Year!

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Sources & Notes

See all three 2024 Year-End “best of” lists here.

See all Flashback Dallas Year-End lists — past and present — here.

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Copyright © 2024 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

`The “South” Central Business District…

by Paula Bosse

Another year is over. Another year that has been full of things that have made the regular posting of things here difficult. I miss the days when I could really dive into a subject and just write and write. I love doing that almost more than anything. Someday I’ll get back to that. 2024 — my eleventh year writing Flashback Dallas — contains the fewest posts of any previous year. Most of my favorites appeared in the first half of the year. My favorite post is the first one on this list, and the others are listed as they appeared chronologically. Click the titles to see the original posts; click the photos for larger images.

Thank you all for reading! I hope for a better 2025 for all of us!

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1.  “THE SOUTH END ‘RESERVATION’ RED-LIGHT DISTRICT — ca. 1907” (January)

This is far and away my favorite post of the year, sparked by the photo below (a detail of it is above). As often happens, I was looking for something unrelated when I stumbled onto this photo and made an exciting discovery of a slice of Dallas history I had never known about. The amount of reading and research this photo spurred was surprising. And fun. As I was saying to someone the other day, if you find history boring, blame the teller, not the history. I personally want my historians to be motivated by enthusiasm and curiosity and to later share what they’ve learned in an entertaining way that encourages their audience to dive into the topic even further.

My year started with brothels. There’s a lot of history south of Jackson Street, children…. I absolutely loved writing this.

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2.  “DEEP ELLUM: LIFE ALONG CENTRAL TRACK” (February)

For years I’ve loved a much-reproduced photo of Deep Ellum taken in the 1930s, which people often refer to as the “Gypsy Tea Room” photo. I used it in a post a few years ago (another of my all-time favorite Flashback Dallas posts) — it took 9 years, but I found two more “companion” photos taken at virtually the same spot, and I put them all in this post. We see people gathered along the busy storefronts that lined Central Avenue, between Elm and Pacific. One photo even shows a train rolling past. I love all these photos.

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3.  “THE GIRLS OF ST. MARY’S” (March)

This was a cute little photo that showed up on eBay, featuring members of the basketball team of St. Mary’s College in East Dallas (Ross & Garrett). I enjoyed going through all the photos for this post and imagining how elegant Ross Avenue once was.

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4.  “THE GRADING OF JUNIUS — 1903” (March)

This really great photo found on eBay shows street work in Old East Dallas. I love finding a photo or an ad or a postcard and just wondering, “Okay, what am I looking at here?” I love it almost as much and I love diving in and learning just what it IS I’m looking at. This was another fun post to research.

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5.  “THE FOREST THEATER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF — ca. 1912-1914” (March)

A very nice man sent me this photo, and I started to write about it in 2015. It was so confusing that I put it off until 2024! I love entertainment history, so when I can write about Dallas entertainment history… two birds, one stone. Any first-hand memories of this well-off-the-beaten-path neighborhood movie house have disappeared into the mists of time. It probably would have been completely forgotten, were it not for this photo. Don’t throw out those old photographs! (I’m so relieved I finally wrote this post.)

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6.  “JIMI HENDRIX IN DALLAS, 4/20/69” (April)

I wrote about this Jimi Hendrix encounter at Love Field back in 2017. It was accompanied by a really, really great TV interview by a very young Channel 8 reporter named Doug Terry. I had tried to contact Doug to let him know this no doubt epic moment in his career was generating enthusiasm on SMU’s Jones Film YouTube channel, but I never heard back from him. …Until this year. And I had to revisit this story, with his personal memories of the interview. Thank you, Doug!

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7.  “HOTEL RODESSIA” (April)

I love seeing postcards I’ve never seen before. Like this one. Rodessia Hotel? Never heard of it. And then I found out what that building had originally been — it was a historic building that I had written about in another favorite post. It’s all one big circle….

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8.  “RUDOLPH GUNNER: DALLAS BOOKSELLER AND EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN’S ‘BEST FRIEND'” (May)

Every year I try to write a bookstore-related post in honor of my bookseller father (Dick Bosse, Aldredge Book Store). This year, it’s a story he would have LOVED! 

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9.  “TELESIGN: FLASHING NEWS TO DOWNTOWN DALLAS — 1951” (August)

I was probably more excited than I needed to be when I discovered that Dallas once had one of its own “news ticker” signs which ran across a couple of downtown buildings in the ’50s. How had I never heard of this?!

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10.  “TOOLING AROUND MUNGER PLACE — ca. 1913” (November)

EBay has so. much. stuff on it. In amongst the… let’s say “less than interesting” material crammed onto the site are the occasional little hidden gems. Like this photo of a well-to-do young woman sitting in her FANTASTIC ELECTRIC CAR, parked in front of a cool-looking, still-standing house on Swiss Avenue. What’s not to love?

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And those are my Top 10 personal favorite posts of 2024.

Up next: the most popular posts of the year. Coming any moment!

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Sources & Notes

See all three 2024 Year-End “best of” lists (as they’re posted) here.

See all Flashback Dallas Year-End lists — past and present — here.

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Copyright © 2024 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

by Paula Bosse

The internet at the end of each year is usually crammed full of year-end lists. Like this one! Here is the first of three for Flashback Dallas. Today, my favorite images from this year’s posts, including photos, postcards, and a cartoon. My favorite is at the top, and the rest are listed chronologically, as they appeared throughout the year. Click the title to see the original post. Click the images to see them much larger.

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Above, a sweet postcard which shows two children and their pets in City Park. I don’t come across a lot of photos like this. I really love it. From “Daily Flashbacks.” (Source: DeGolyer Library, SMU).

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Below, a serene postcard showing Exall Lake in Highland Park. From “A Few Photo Additions to Past Posts — #22.” (Source: eBay)

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Also from “A Few Photo Additions to Past Posts — #22,” a great photo by the great R. C. Hickman, showing two teenage couples on the dance floor at the Empire Club on Hall Street in 1956. (Source: R. C. Hickman Photographic Archive, Briscoe Center, University of Texas Libraries)

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This somewhat unusual photo — taken almost in the street — shows the 1300 block of Main Street in 1927. I’m not sure why I like this so much, except that I really feel the traffic! From “More Flashback.” (Source: eBay)

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I have always had a weird fascination for anything involving a conveyor belt. And, for some reason, I also love seeing incredibly clean factories! So how could I not like this photo of the brand-new (1964) Coca-Cola bottling plant near Love Field? From “On the Line at Coca-Cola — 1964.” (Source: Photo by John Rogers, from UNT Libraries Special Collections)

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I love this photo of Dallas’ hometown hero Ernie Banks and his wife Mollye visiting Big D in 1955. From “A Few Photo Additions to Past Posts — #23.” (Source: John Leslie Patton Jr. Papers, Dallas Historical Society)

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I swear most of my childhood in the family car was spent hurtling around this cloverleaf, fearing for my very life. I really miss it! From “The Cloverleaf.” (Source: TxDOT)

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There are so many weird and wonderful photos of the goings-on at the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration in Fair Park. The one below was one I had never seen before: a kitschy little restaurant called The Chuck Wagon, with a covered-wagon theme. From “Zephyr, Meet Ox Cart — 1936.” (Source: Texas Centennial Exposition Collection, Dallas Historical Society)

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I absolutely love this dreamy-feeling postcard. The Melrose Hotel pool was teeny. From “Poolside Patrons.” (Source: eBay)

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Photos of people waiting at train stations and bus stations are always interesting (I don’t really get that excited about people waiting in airports…). There is so much to look at in this great photo — and I zoom in on lots of details of it in “Labor Day Weekend, 1952 (Redux).” (Source: Photo by Denny Hayes, Hayes Collection, Dallas History and Archives, Dallas Public Library)

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Also by Denny Hayes is this spectacularly BRIGHT photo of Elm Street, from “The Bright Lights of Big D — 1951.” (Source: Hayes Collection, Dallas History and Archives, Dallas Public Library)

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Another almost other-worldly, dreamlike postcard, is this one, featuring the Fair Park lagoon at the Texas Centennial. From “Over on Patreon….” (Source: eBay)

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I love every single thing about this photograph. From “Tooling Around Munger Place — ca. 1913.” (Source: eBay)

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One of the most exciting things for me to come across is something like this cartoon. When it was published in The Dallas Journal in 1935, it was simply a drawing of something that was probably humdrum and familiar to everyone who lived in a big city. But I had never heard of a “curve-greaser” and had never even considered that this was something that people did. …Or something that needed doing. I loved learning about this! If you want to know more, check out “A Unique Profession: The Curve Greaser — 1935.” (Source: Drawing by Aubrey Streater, Dallas History and Archives, Dallas Public Library)

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I have stepped beyond the Dallas city limits for this one (but have remained inside the county…), but I really, really love this shot of West Main Street in Mesquite. It’s actually a detail of a larger image, but the man leaning against the wall of the Gulf station gets lost in the original photo — which you can see in “Downtown Mesquite — 1925.” (Source: Photo by Frank Rogers, Frank Rogers Collection, Dallas History and Archives, Dallas Public Library)

I look forward to discovering more new (or at least new-to-me) and exciting images in 2025!

Still ahead before 2024 peters out: my personal favorite posts and the most popular posts of the year. Check back!

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Sources & Notes

Year-End “best of” lists from 2024 are here.

See all Flashback Dallas “Year-End” lists — past and present — here.

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Copyright © 2024 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.