dallashistory

The last blocks of the old Freedmans town area dating back to the mid 1860s arond 1866, is being hauled away for the basements in the Arts District area, thus the lots and blocks of dirt will be hauled away at a level of removal of 25 feet.

The evidence of this Historical site came about in the late 1980s, when Federal artifacts from the calvary were realized in a lot that had been bulldozed for parking and other maintance that came about in the area thus affecting 4 acres or more of land,where hunderds of thousands of artifacts were recoverd from 1989 to 2007.

This Last lot removal, was the site of the early Odd Fellows Lodge for African Amercians dating back to the 1880s and some of the shot gun housing areas where priveys and trash piles would remain from the many Church going groups that were located on this block..

Is this the area around Forrest Lane, not Forest Ave?

Wow! This is neat! Where can I find more information?

Teresa wrote:Is this the area around Forrest Lane, not Forest Ave?

I think it is in the area around DMA, Myerson, etc., north of Ross, west of HArwood.

Clyde Howard is correct, while i went by yesterady and too another look and , they are hauling dirts out, laying deep pipe and getting ready to scrape and then removed the historical earth.

This block is facing Ross ave, and the plat date to the area, came with W.W. Peak in 1875, while Doctor Seegar lived in this area along with the Fricholt family of La Reunion, i did locate their structure in 2007 and found the priveys and backyard lots of fine European items in glass cermaic and hand pressed brick,

This area block facing ross is true to the old West of the 1870s, while the back lots were part of the shotgun housing from the 1880s, domestics who had lived and serverd inthe various chruch groups in the area...bone dice and dominos are a favortie from sites like this as well as African Amercian socity tokens giving the historical to thus create that unique evidence of a culture comming to life...

This is so cooooooooool! I just found out there is a remnant of the old Arlington Downs.......

I read that some of the Horse Water Troughs were used as planters in the industrial park that occupies the site of Arlington Downs. Also the grandstand is being used at some county horse track in south Texas. Is there more?

if you see these things comming down or going to the way side, get a moment , look, grab a camera at a c.v.s and tell a story, in 5 years this is going to become one big plastic community...and it should , with 8 million in 4 counties by 2017

That is a frightening thought ~ so very many people and houses and fast-food restaurants ... leaving so little open space. Too much concrete (may) = global warming. The land has to be able to breathe; especially Texas land, which already holds much heat.

alexandertroup wrote:if you see these things comming down or going to the way side, get a moment , look, grab a camera at a c.v.s and tell a story, in 5 years this is going to become one big plastic community...and it should , with 8 million in 4 counties by 2017

"Too much concrete (may) = global warming."

BALONEY!

You try placing a slice of processed pork on a Dallas driveway -- say, about 3:00 PM -- in mid-July and see what happens

Peterk wrote:

"Too much concrete (may) = global warming."

BALONEY!

Cedar wrote:You try placing a slice of processed pork on a Dallas driveway -- say, about 3:00 PM -- in mid-July and see what happens

Peterk wrote:

"Too much concrete (may) = global warming."

BALONEY!

Hey - nothing new about that. I remember layig a black Iron skillet on a sidewalk in fiull sun maybe 1955, and after a while for it to get hot, seeing if you really could fry an egg - nope, but you COULD scamble one and get it cooked...

The things kids will try...

With the recent rains and the dirt spread out from the impact of holes dug left from last week, the possibility of finding artifacts is very good now, of course you have security on the site,and these are very parnoid people and to get permission is another problem , because, once somthing is found, then the press is called in and the site is shut down and one losses the opportunity to find more of the features that would indicate the placement of such a find.

Several years ago on this same area, i came across a texas confederate button for a tunic coat and the remains of a very fine household, ca 1870s due to the kinds of bottle and ceramic shards found in a very deep and well made privey on the Arts District side near the freeway, while during the week most of the site was hauled away, the loss was quite sad. and this event has the same quality and content as i saw several years back, while this is what a native Dallas person should realize....

well they are now cutting a large hole in the area bounded by maple and ross ave, and the effects of the removal are now comming to light and destruction, as the priveys and old garbage pits are now exsposed , sites dating back to the 1860s and fronting ross ave for the new arts district.....and i cant do a damn thing...while it would be great to have rain and they left the gates open and the secuirty was off doing what they do..money .. oh well, once in a life time, we realize the history of our city or the hsitory of our family, the rest is pleasure and hard work......A/T, HELLO CEDAR AND CLYDE..

I have to go to ross next week, it is too windy today to find out where the dirts is being hauled away to....a lot of artifacts have tumbled out on the dirt piles and it looks like plates and dishes and Glass and pottery all very 19th century...the last time i came to a place like this two police women pulled me over and searched my bags to ask me if i was a terroist, goin to blow up Woodall Rodgers freeway , it is odd, the thing i do and yet later in life the items exspsoe a diffrent story, obscurity is ment for a reason, while loss is ment foreever.......ON TO BETTER DIGS, have to move some ham bones....

Did the police ladies ask about what was found ... to whom the artifacts might have belonged; how old they might be? And we inhabit the age of video documentation ... free-form and whimsical communication of history (potentially).

Have you been able to determine the makers of some of the dishes?

There is no telling what lies beneath my ghost-town hill ~ out in Wise County. But the townsfolk would be reluctant for anyone to dig up there, I think ... because they fear searches for alien bones. Still, I may ask one day. And people do probe around on the surface with metal detectors ....

I hunger for trade tokens (though found they would not be mine)

alexandertroup wrote:I have to go to ross next week, it is too windy today to find out where the dirts is being hauled away to....a lot of artifacts have tumbled out on the dirt piles and it looks like plates and dishes and Glass and pottery all very 19th century...the last time i came to a place like this two police women pulled me over and searched my bags to ask me if i was a terroist, goin to blow up Woodall Rodgers freeway , it is odd, the thing i do and yet later in life the items exspsoe a diffrent story, obscurity is ment for a reason, while loss is ment foreever.......ON TO BETTER DIGS, have to move some ham bones....

I Was almost arrested today as I went on site over at the Arts District to pick up glass and china from a large privey dug and placed on a mound in at the corner of Ross and Maple, these events have been apart of my daily life for over 30 years, while the non conformist who label me as an activist, i am only doing what urban archaeology is all about, find the story and give it a home...the event began when i went on site and two helmeted men came up to me and asked me what i was doing and told me that picking up things on the site was illegal and considerd theft and tresspassing, i did not argue with the men and left the site around 1 pm and got with what was left of the lunch crowd....besides being an African Amercain Community, this was the location Doc Hollidays partner Dr Seegar had lived at in the Ross Ave, W.W. Peak Additon of 1875/76, and his residence on the corner was a very good speculation as to what kind of 1870s...remains might have been left in priveys and trash piles.....

Again this is the present evidence that proves, and for so many years continues to retain the essence that D allas is a cutural wasterland....until then, I now work at the majestic theatre....A/T..

Today, i went by Ross ave and saw all of the dirt is removed and gone ...and despite the rain, where did the dirt go......well, that is my next story in the weeks to come and you folks may be getting sick of hearing about Dallas Dirt and what it may mean or not...but i find things in Dallas Dirt, and try to keep some of that dirt in a sand box,litter box or alley way, while i dont throw rocks or dig up dirt on folks to hurt them.......we all should really take the dirt we find in our lives.....find a hole and bury it deep, ...if it is painful dirt with a lot of history, i know of a shrink dirt doctor, who can exstract your dirt and give you some.................peaceful sand....so enough of my dirt and your dirt, i dig.....finding neat stories in dirt and i hope you do also...until then A/T, Dirt Doctor..

Some dirt is good and some dirt is bad, but this dirt story comes to an end and that is sad, seeing the number of artifacts, strewen from various garbage and privey site, i am not going to create an arrest record for another box of artifacts, but this story ended on sunday...having gone to the bulk garbage site at Mccommas Bluff out in south dallas, at the city of dallas landifll, it is now another story on the lost history of multicutural folkls who made the ross ave area what it was fromt he 1860s on , lost in the ashes of ignornce..oh Well more on other events later...A/T

I spent the whole weekend going to sites, and seeinghow parnoid progress is and how indiffrent our culture is.....oh well, this is what real life is.. and i am doing it..until then alexander Troup..

I spent the whole weekend going to sites, and seeinghow parnoid progress is and how indiffrent our culture is.....oh well, this is what real life is.. and i am doing it..until then alexander Troup..

I spent the whole weekend going to sites, and seeing how parnoid progress is and how indiffrent our culture is.....oh well, this is what real life is.. and i am doing it..until then alexander Troup..

I find it interesting what you do Alexander - Have you found anything interesting of late? I was thinking when they demoed the block east of the Records Building that there was no telling what if the way of history they were taking to some dump.

Okay folk
Scott Dorn Here Sorry I have haven't been able to play much on here.
I think this is the Area of the new Woodall Rodger Deck park.
Anyway I am shooting the Hernadez Fine foods demo On May 11, 2009.
let me if yall want t meet at the location you mentioned.
email sdorn @mac.com

Scott, I have been observing your photographic documentation on Facebook. Your being 'out there' assures for all of us that memory of places known to us survives ~ and not just our memories, but the introduction to future generations of what went and stood before their present.

So, don't worry about us: just keep on doing your thing and we will follow

PS. How neat that you were able to use the bricks for your garden