Dallas, Texas: Dallas Heritage Village - Part Five - Finale

The final part of my tour round the Dallas Heritage Village.

I wish this had been selling popcorn!

This should really have been on my first Heritage Village  blog post when we walked past the main street and went into the bank which was strategically situated on the corner.   But it is here now.  As it says, all towns had a main street where the important places of business were and various side streets that ran off them.

You may remember I posted this picture...

This was painted on the side of the Blum Brothers' General Store.

(This photo alone was not taken by us - seems this is the only building we missed taking a photo of - it is an image from google)

This store was built in 1907 by Albert Mueller (Miller) on Wolf Street in Dallas.

This store is laid out in a very interactive way with lots of things to do and look at and you can 'act' a part as a shop keeper of postmaster/mistress.

They had brooms to sweep the floor 

Oops, no milk today though, sorry.

Lots of toys and dolls available to purchase.

I had a chat with this China head lady to see how long she had been sitting in the store...but she didn't say much.

She looked slighted resigned, although somewhat content in a strange way.

There were some great toys I would loved to have been able to play with and bring home with me.

Can I help you?

Your mail delivery?  

Let me see...no sorry nothing for you today.

It seems they had rather a fondness for stuffed animals, skins and animal heads!  I wouldn't want to argue with this fellow.

The other side of the store.

Potatoes in a prune box?  Whatever next?!

How many potatoes would you like?

Let me ring up your account.

No change today.

The Saloon was next. to the general store It seems that many German immigrants brought with them recipes and traditions from their ancestral homes and that included the taste of beer.  In 1901 Dallas had 200 saloons!  Man they must have liked drinking!!  Apparently that was one for every 200 citizens..,  The Saloons offered a place to meet, play cards dominoes and converse and this saloon was a fairly respectable establishment without much worry of brawls etc.  

Oh the poor bear....how sad is that. 

More heads on the wall

The piano player would sit and play familiar tunes in the background

There was even an old barbers chair in the corner!

Outside was an old tin watering bath - wish it had been full!

Lastly a picture of the Browder Springs Hall which we didn't get a chance to look in as we were patiently being waited for by the rest of our party who wanted to move on as the heat was getting too much.  This hall was built in 1906 and was a typical structure of the time.  It would have been used for many types of commercial activities.  It is currently used as a gathering place for various meetings, presentations and celebrations.

After the Dallas Heritage Village we went into Dallas itself to the Art Museum

The approach.

Most of the time in the museum Mum was looking at the art, but I did see a couple of things than amazed me....

I was astounded at the size of this bed

I really was quite humungous

Could you imagine sleeping in a bed this size - you would almost get lost in it.

I stare up at it in utter amazement.

This tells you a little about the bed and how it came about.

The only other pictures I have are these which I thought my friend Rory would be interested in.

Standing in front of the frogs.

The information board telling you about the sculptures.

Finally at closing time we had to leave the museum.

Here we all are in front of the museum fountain.

Jackie, Mum, Me, Barbie, Marti and Donna.

Thank you wonderful ladies for your infinite patience with me and my fascination in the Dallas Heritage Village.  I had a truly awesome time.  You are the best!

Lastly a little bit of fun on the way back to our car and then hotel we road on one of the free trams that goes round the city.

With a name like Matilda....

She could only have come from Australia!

I was exhausted after my long day and slept all the way back to the hotel!

Dallas, Texas: Dallas Heritage Village - Part Four

Beware, this is a long post - but has some scary and interesting and exciting things in it.  You might want to make yourself a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate and grab a biscuit/cookie or two ....

Next along the way is the Doctor's Office.  Built in 1890 also in the Queen Anne Style it is typical of the type of house built to also accommodate offices of doctors in the late nineteenth century.

The doctors office....

Yikes!

Look Henry!  Leilani points out the skeleton...

She is rather worried

I put my arm round her to reassure her that there is nothing to worry about.

But I am not sure she is convinced.

The treatment room...

Equipment used.

Drugs....

Preparation room for mixing lotions and potions.

Once we had finished looking at all the fascinating things in the Doctor's Office we continued on our journey.

There were more buildings across the road, but I think these were used for offices and things.

Back to the Donkey's pen and the Carriage House which is the home of the Mammoth Jack Donkeys I showed in a previous post.

A carriage.

I imagine the donkeys pulling this...

It must have been quite exciting riding in one of these carriages

...and even more exciting to drive one!

Soon though it is time to stop imaging my time in a carriage and continue exploring...

Next up was a 'Shotgun House' built in 1906.   These houses featured single rooms connected to each other in straight lines from the front door to the back door and were common in the working class neighbourhoods of Dallas and throughout the South.    This particular house comes from an African-American neighbourhood around State-Thomas streets in what was then considered to be North Dallas.  It was built and owned by Dr Hall  who built a series of 10 houses that lined Guilliot Street.  He saw a lucrative business in the rental market in the growing city.  Most of the residents who lived in such houses would have been laundresses, cooks, yardmen, drivers, or worked in service jobs in Downtown Dallas.  Dr Hall installed electrical wiring and outdoor taps for city water to attract a high quality and stable clientèle. 

The insides were basically decorated and furnished.

Not especially big rooms after those of likes of Sullivan, Blum, and Millimore residence.

Toys, some handmade.

The parlour - multi-purpose

The Railway Depot was built in 1886 - 87 and served the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Line.  It was called the MKT or KATY line.  Most architecture for the railroad was standard throughout the west, and each railroad line had designated colours.  It had railroad tracks on both sides as well as doors to service both freight and passengers

There was a lot to look at in the depot and I had a great time inspecting all the interesting items that gave me a glimpse of history of the people that passed through them.

There was a box with architectural equipment - architects and builders found plentiful work in towns that were becoming established.

Now this looks interesting...

In fact very interesting!  Look!  This dentist had the same name as me..

...well almost anyway!

I was really fascinated by this - and to discover that he became Doc Holliday - I learnt about him last year when I went to Tombstone, Arizona and heard about the Gunfight at O.K. Corral.  I didn't realise his name was 'John HENRY Holliday', nor that he had also been in Dallas - how wonderful is that?  He got around like I do!  You can read more about him here.

Some pretty scary dental equipment.

Waiting for a ticket for the train...

Doesn't seem to be anyone at the counter selling tickets.

The station office.

The store and supplies side of the Depot

A little display feature on the wall.

De Leon House was built in 1883 and was known as a 'section house' built for the railroad foreman and his family.  It was painted in the designated colours of the KATY Railroad.  

Worth Hotel was built in 1904 a short walk from the train depot.  One source of business was lunches hotel employees packed for the railroad passengers.  The number of lunches needed each day would have been telegraphed through to the hotel. Hotels such as this one would have depended on clientele from the railroad traffic such as travelling salesman and migrant workers.   Often these hotels also served as low-rent boarding houses providing little more than the basics, food and shelter.  

Dining room.

Toys illustrate that there would have been children present at times as well.

This really is an exciting place - there was so much to see and do and it is great to have my memories refreshed at all we saw.

Some more to still come!