Preserve Dallas, Summer 2009 Page: 3 of 8

                                
OLD PARKLAND
HOSPITAL REVEALS
NEW SECRETS
At this year's Preservation
Achievement Awards, Preservation
Dallas members and guests had
the opportunity to tour the recently
renovated Old Parkland Hospital
building at Oak Lawn and Maple, and
view the architectural details that
make this venerable Dallas building
so remarkable. However, one original
element remained hidden to the
public until unveiled during a private
ceremony by Crow Holdings
on Thursday, June 25, 2009.
On March 19, 1913, the Dal/as
Morning News reported that the
Masonic fraternity led ceremonies at
the future site of the new $100,000
municipal sanitarium, eventually
named Parkland Hospital. Dallas
mayor W.M. Holland gave the opening
speech to a crowd of several hundred,
followed by addresses from local
health officers. Officials then laid
the cornerstone, commemorating
construction of the state-of-the-art
brick building to replace the
"antiquated frame structure that has
served as a municipal retreat for the
stricken during a quarter of a century."
Contained within the cornerstone
was a copper box-a time capsule
holding copies of the Dallas Morning
News, Times-Herald and copies
of the reports of the City Health
Officer, Mayor and Commissioners.
Crow Holdings had discovered the
existence of the time capsule during
the renovation process. Initially it
was determined to be too expensive
to safely extract, but after closer
inspection, it was discovered that the

,:
.
ib
t     y  w
L

capsule contained a small puncture.
An archivist advised removing it
before air or moisture destroyed
its contents and so on June 25, It
was opened for the first time in 96
years. Along with Harlan Crow of
Crow Holdings and invited guests
(above), Leonard Harvey, a past
grand master of the Masons, and City
Archivist John Slate were on hand
to carefully remove the contents of
the time capsule. The time capsule
and its contents will be documented
and remain on display at the Crow
Holdings offices, while the Dallas
Landmark building itself begins
the next chapter in its nearly one
hundred-year history.
TEXAS 180-A ROAD
FOR THE HISTORY
BOOKS
At the crossroads between the
midwest, and the east and west
coasts of the U.S., Texas is home
to two historic highways. The most
famous is Route 66 through the
Panhandle, but Texas Highway 180
links north Texas to the equally
important Bankhead Highway
system. Now, Texas 180 has been
declared a Texas Historic Highway in
a bill co-authored by Texas State

Reps. Carol Kent of Dallas and
Mark Shelton of Fort Worth. On
September 1, the designation will
go into effect,qualifying the highway
for additional funding, and the Texas
Historical Commission will promote
the route as a historical tourist
destination.
Highway 180 connected U.S. 80 to
Davis Street in Dallas, Main Street
in Grand Prairie, Division Street in
Arlington, and Lancaster Avenue
and Camp Bowie Boulevard in
Fort Worth, before veering toward
Mineral Wells and towns further
west. It was all part of the larger,
Bankhead Highway complex that
connected Washington, D.C. to San
Diego. Along with it's more famous
sister road, Route 66, the Bankhead
joined smaller highways to form the
great U.S. highway system during the
1920s, thanks in large part to road
and public works promoters like U.S.
Senator John Hollis Bankhead.
The nucleus of the Interstate
Highway system that followed
WWII, these roads still showcase
irreplaceable roadside attractions
such as motor courts and diners,
along with whimsical signs and
structures-some protected, but
more that disappear each year. Said
Texas Historical Commission Deputy
Director Mark Wolfe, "When you
talk about the history of America,
the automobile shaped our culture.
Highway history is Texas history."

3