Dallas, called Big D, is the eighth largest city in the United States and rests on 343 square miles of rolling prairie. To meet the growing recreational and cultural needs of its citizens, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department maintains more than 23,018 park acresone of the largest municipal park systems in the country. Dallas has over 400 individual parks, including community centers, swimming pools, athletic fields, and a metropolitan zoo. From such well-known places as Fair Park, home of the State Fair of Texas and the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936, to Dealey Plaza, and to lesser-known neighborhood parks, Dallas parks have a rich history stretching from the days when Dallas was a western boom town to a 21st century metropolis. Historic Dallas Parks explores the origins and early development of this nationally recognized system with interesting background stories and facts and illustrated with photographs and historical documents from the collections of the Dallas Municipal Archives.

Dallas, called "Big D," is the eighth largest city in the United States and rests on 343 square miles of rolling prairie. To meet the growing recreational and cultural needs of its citizens, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department maintains more than 23,018 park acres--one of the largest municipal park systems in the country. Dallas has over 400 individual parks, including community centers, swimming pools, athletic fields, and a metropolitan zoo. From such well-known places as Fair Park, home of the State Fair of Texas and the Texas Centennial Exposition of 1936, to Dealey Plaza, and to lesser-known neighborhood parks, Dallas parks have a rich history stretching from the days when Dallas was a western boom town to a 21st century metropolis. Historic Dallas Parks explores the origins and early development of this nationally recognized system with interesting background stories and facts and illustrated with photographs and historical documents from the collections of the Dallas Municipal Archives.

The history of the Dallas parks begins with City Park, 1876, continues with the creation of the Park Board, May, 1905, 100 years ago, and treks on to better and better indoor and outdoor facilities for the citizens of Dallas. Today, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department takes care of 21,000 acres of park land, 17 urban lakes, 146 miles of trails, 47 Recreational Centers, 6 golf courses, 22 swimming pools, 4 spray grounds, 5 tennis centers, 254 outdoor tennis courts, 154 outdoor basketball courts, 252 athletic fields, and 267 playgrounds. And it's all there waiting for the citizens of Dallas! You have no excuse. All of you out there?keep STROLLING THROUGH THE PARKS and PLAYING IN THE PARKS!

Dallas has a reputation as a progressive city--always ready to build something new to replace the old. In the late 19th century, as Dallas became the transportation and commercial center for North Texas, brick and stone edifices supplanted the simple frame structures of the early days. By the 1920s, the city was the financial capital of the region and boasted the tallest building west of the Mississippi. In 1936, Dallas hosted the Texas Centennial Exposition in Fair Park, an ensemble of art deco buildings that is a National Historic Landmark. As business grew, so did the skyline. Today Dallas has a rich collection of historic buildings that chronicle the city's growth and progress.

"The purposes of the study were to report attendance figures of the Deparment during the period of the study, to report the acquisition of new land and facilities during the period of the study, to survey the program change in relation to its leaders during the period of the study, to determine if the Dallas Park and Recreation Department met the standards set up by the National Recreation and Park Association, and to project what recreational facilities will be needed in the next decade ... This study indicates that the Dallas Park and Recreation Department is below the standards of the National Recreation Park Association in most areas of concern. The one metropolitan zoo and the ten acres of land per 560 population were the only areas that met or exceeded the standards. The ownership of land is most important so that when monies become available recreation facilities, program and sfaff can be increased."--Leaves 1,50.

In 1936, Texas commemorated the 100th anniversary of its independence from Mexico with a series of statewide celebrations. A central exposition was proposed, with four cities waging a sometimes bitter campaign to secure the rights to stage this auspicious event. At stake for the host city was unparalleled national exposure and a strong economic boost in the midst of the Great Depression. Using the existing grounds and buildings at Fair Park as the basis of its bid, Dallas outhustled and outspent its competitors to be designated as the host city of the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition. The fair was planned by chief architect George Dahl with legions of talented designers and artists who collaborated to produce one of the great American world's fairs of the 1930s. In addition to the centennial celebration, 1936 marked the 50th anniversary of Fair Park as the site of the great State Fair of Texas. Many of the exhibition structures, livestock barns, and sports and performance venues built for the fair over the previous 50 years were incorporated into the new layout and design of the exposition. The architectural style that was applied to the old and new buildings at Fair Park was described as "Texanic," a combination of Texas iconography and classical motifs with the more spare, streamlined regimen of the moderne style. The result was a revelation to the millions of visitors that attended the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936.

In 1909, Dallas city leaders approved the damming of White Rock Creek to create a new water source for the increasing needs of a growing city. As a result, so much of the life and history of Dallas has echoed through the life and history of White Rock Lake. In the early decades, the lake was home to many private summer homes and boat houses, as well as hunting and fishing clubs. Soon thereafter, a bathing beach, sailing clubs, public boathouses, and picnic facilities were added. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration transformed the lake with more recreational and leisure amenities. World War II brought increased military uses that included a POW camp for German officers. Those early city leaders could hardly know that the lake they were creating 10 miles outside of Dallas would become an urban oasis enjoyed by over two million visitors a year.