Dallas Heritage Village

In preparing for my recent trip to Dallas I had pulled up a list of dog friendly places.  Almost the first place that jumped off the list at me was the Dallas Heritage Village.  I knew it was perfect for Bentley and me when I began exploring their website and found that this was more than a modern day attraction. It is a living history village of buildings that have been relocated from all over North Texas and assembled here so they can share what life was like 100 years ago with us today.

In 1876 James J. Eakins gave the City of Dallas 10 acres of his land in lieu of paying taxes.  This property became the city's first park and was known simply as City Park.  In 1881 the city acquired 8 more acres from the Browder family; this tract included Browder Springs which had served the city as its first public water supply source.

The Cedars, an elegant residential neighborhood comprised of the fashionable homes of business and mercantile leaders, grew up around the park during the 1880's and 1890's. There are still remnants of this neighborhood surrounding the park today.  This area's close proximity to the railroads made it the ideal place for the construction of factories; workforce housing for the factory workers also appeared in this area.  There was a zoo located here and weekly concerts were held in the bandstand. The park was truly an active part of the community. 


This home is an administrative office of the park.  There were several homes on this side street, each with identical steps leading up the small hill from the street.





I'm always intrigued by steps like these and wonder about the home that they led to once upon a time

 

After World War II residents began moving to the suburbs.  When Interstate 30 was completed The Cedars was cut off from downtown and fell into decline.  But a group of women looking for a place to relocate a plantation home that was scheduled to be wrecked offered new life to the park. Mary Aldredge and the Founders Garden Club had to store the disassembled house in a warehouse before convincing the city of Dallas to let them put it here in City Park in 1966.  When re-assembled Millermore opened in 1969 it would be the first of 21 buildings that would follow to the park. In 2005 the park was no longer referred to as Old City Park when it was re-named the Dallas Heritage Village.

Millermore was built between 1855 and 1862 by William Brown Miller on Bonnie View Road in Dallas. The house was built facing exactly north, using the North Star as a compass in construction. It was designed to catch the prevailing winds for cross ventilation.  Slave labor was one of the factors that enabled Mr. Miller to carry out his plan to build a grand house.

Stone was quarried from nearby and hauled to the house site where pieces for the foundation, chimney and hearths were cut.  Cedars on the property were cut and pulled to the site by oxen and then hewn into beams.  The construction took seven years due to Mrs. Miller's death in 1856 and the 8 weeks it took for a load of lumber milled in Jefferson, Texas to arrive in Dallas via a commercial freight wagon.

When completed the Greek Revival details evident in the house were only a symmetrical façade, a small portico with slender columns and a wide hallway flanked by square rooms.  A cistern on the back porch was designed to catch rain water which was then used by the ladies to wash their hair and clothes since it was softer than the well water! The balcony and 2-story porch were added in 1912.

In future posts I will feature a few of the other buildings.  Please visit their website, Dallas Heritage Village. And, yes, they were dog friendly.  I couldn't take Bentley inside any of the buildings, but I still appreciated the fact that I could bring him in to enjoy the grounds.



Oak Alley, part 2

(This is a continuation of the previous post, Oak Alley, part 1  . In it I forgot to mention that an owner prior to the Stewarts, Jefferson Davis Hardin, had purchased the plantation in 1917 and had made an unsuccessful effort at restoration.  He is credited with saving the Big House through his replacement of the heavily deteriorated roof.)

I spent about two and a half hours at Oak Alley and never felt overwhelmed like I sometimes do in places with many things to see.  I did not try to see everything there (save something for the next trip, right?), but still felt very relaxed as I walked around the grounds using the excellent Visitor Guide & Map they supplied. 



 

The building that the Stewart's used as a garage now has two vehicles on display that are representative of the Stewart era.  On the right is a 1928 Ford Model "A" Phaeton sedan and on the right is a 1929 Ford Model "A" truck.

 



One of the exhibits I did not explore was the slave quarters.  Just glancing in as I walked by I could see many exhibits.  I don't remember where I picked this up, but normally the slave quarters were not located as close to the house as these are.  So I'm not sure if this was an unusual occurrence or if these buildings were moved from somewhere else.  (Just to note, I'm sure that actual slave quarters were not this neatly built and well roofed!)

These sugar kettles were scattered over the grounds.  They were part of the tedious process of extracting sugar and molasses that was done on every sugar cane plantation.  The kettles were graduated in four sizes ranging from 7.5 feet (the grande) to 4 feet (the batterie) in diameter.

The object visible at the top right of this photo of the dining room is the bottom of the punka.  This fan would swing back and forth above the table while the family enjoyed a meal; it would be "powered" from a corner of the room by a small slave boy pulling a rope to move the fan back and forth.  These are actually of Indian origin and I'm not sure how they were brought to the southern states (future research project) but they served their purpose.  I had to think that the little boy pulling the rope would have to be fairly strong to keep pulling the fan back and forth throughout a meal.

The bedrooms were beautiful, filled with many period pieces like this cradle and day bed next to it.  However, I just could not get excited about the thought of sleeping on a mattress stuffed with moss!

Excellent!

 

(Restaurant is on the left)

The restaurant is located in a building constructed around the turn of the 20th century and the gift shop is located in what was originally one of the shed's constructed while Mr. Hardin owned the plantation. The restaurant offered a nice menu and I bought a cookbook that had their recipes in it, many of which are Mrs. Stewart's.  The gift shop featured a nice selection of books; however, there wasn't one on the history of Oak Alley.

The love that the Stewart's put into the restoration and maintenance of Oak Alley is very evident everywhere. To ensure that the plantation was preserved for future generations Mrs. Stewart established the non-profit Oak Alley Foundation for the purpose of maintaining and preserving the Big House and 25 surrounding acres.  The property was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1974.