old postcards of historic buildings

[gtaylor1]

Of all places, I found a VERY quaint shop in Pikes Place Market in Seattle, WA that had thousands of postcards - with about 150 of the Dallas area. I bought around 40 of them, mostly old buildings that don't even exist today. Was hoping to get them scanned in to the forum soon. I was really happy about my find! This would be a good place to show them.

[dismuke]

This forum would be a good place to share them. I hope you have a chance to get around to it as I - and I suspect others - would very much enjoy looking at them.

Here is an old postcard that I recently found and purchased on the Internet. It is an early view of the lobby of the Adolphus Hotel. I have several old postcards showing the building from the outside - but this is the first photo I have ever seen of what it looked like inside. Over the years, the Adolphus received several expansions and remodelings - so everything you see here is long gone. But it is nice to know that the owners who restored the hotel in the 1980s gave it a lobby very much in the spirit of the original. I am told the wood chandeliers with the Anheiser Busch motif survive from the original interior - but they are not visible in this picture.

I suspect that the object on the floor by the chair is a spitoon. Yuck. Oh, well .... I guess it beats spewing the stuff out on the rug!
http://dismuke.org/adolphusinside.jpg

[John T Roberts]

Please show them when you get a chance.

As an architect, I have noticed when hotels have been remodeled over the course of several decades, there has been a tendency to keep removing more and more of the original finishes with each remodel. Many hotels of the age of the Adolphus don't have anything left of their original interiors, especially here in Texas.

Dismuke, that is a great picture!

[dismuke]

Here are some other Dallas hotel related postcards I have picked up that people will perhaps find interesting.

This one is of the "Caveteria" - the name the Baker Hotel gave to its basement cafeteria. The description on the back of the card bills it as "The South's Most Unique Cafeteria." The card was postmarked Dec 31, 1929.

http://dismuke.org/dallas/caveteria.jpg

[dismuke]

For those too young to remember, here is what the Baker Hotel looked like on the outside. It was located at Commerce and Akard where Southwestern Bell's monument to architectural blandness now stands and was imploded in the early 1980s. I was in high school at the time and at least got to visit the hotel during its liquidation sale. What a waste.

T. B. Baker was a hotel magnate who owned or ran a bunch of hotels throughout the Southwest. Trademarks of his hotels were the third faucet for "Iced Water" on the bathroom sinks as well as a double doored compartment built into each room's door where guests could place their laundry. The hotel staff could then simply go down the hall to pick up and deliver laundry without disturbing the guests. There is still a Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells - but it has sadly fallen into disrepair.

http://dismuke.org/dallas/Bakerdal.jpg

[dismuke]

The Oriental Hotel was Dallas' finest when it was built in the early 1890s. It was demolished in the early 1920s to make room for the Baker. This is from a card postmarked Apripl 7, 1908.

http://dismuke.org/dallas/Oriental.jpg

[dismuke]

Here is a view of downtown Dallas showing the original section of the Adolphus before the various additions were added. You can also see the Busch - now known as the Kirby Building and recently restored as apartments. It is the tall white building in the center of the picture. The tall white building to the right was Dallas' first real skyscraper, the Praetorian Building. It still stands - but it was destroyed in the 1960s when the exterior was removed and replaced with ugly yellow (now gray) panels. This card was postmarked on May 18, 1922 - but the scene is from a few years earlier. It was not uncommon for postcards with out of date views to stay in circulation for years or even decades.

http://dismuke.org/dallas/Dal1910s.jpg

[dismuke]

This view is how the Commerce and Akard intersection looked in the late 1920s and early 1930s. You can see the two additions that were made to the original Adolphus tower. The tall building is the pre-flying red horse Magnolia Building. Directly across the street is the Baker Hotel. The building to the left was the old Republic Bank building. It is now called the Davis Building and stands empty.

In the bottom left corner of the picture, you will see the top of the old Waldorf Hotel. In the early 1920s, the Waldorf was owned by Conrad Hilton whose specialty at that point in his career was to purchase and remodel run down hotels. (He referred to them as his "old dowagers.") He also owned the Melba and the Terminal Hotels in Fort Worth. He then sold these properties in order to build his first Hilton Hotel - which still stands and is now called "The Aristocrat."

http://dismuke.org/dallas/Dal1920s.jpg

[dismuke]

Hotel Jefferson is now just a memory - and a parking lot facing Dealy Plaza.

http://dismuke.org/dallas/Jffrsn.jpg

[dismuke]

Dallas' Alamo Plaza still stands on Fort Worth Avenue - though I am not sure how quiet or safe it would be to stay there. At night, the flashing neon sign in front still puts on a nice dispay - or at least it did a few months ago when I drove by. There are a couple of other interesting 1930s vintage tourist courts still standing nearby.

I think these old tourist courts are very interesting from a pop culture standpoint. They often had very imaginative architectural themes designed to catch the attention of passing moterists. It would be nice to see some of them preserved for posterity. I guess the big problem would be the question as to what on earth one could do with them. Most of them are on old US highways that the Interstates have long passed by and are in neighborhoods where it no longer makes sense to put a hotel.

http://dismuke.org/dallas/Alamop.jpg

[dismuke]

It was in the basement of this residential hotel where Gordon McLendon started his now legendary radio station KLIF 1190AM.

I drove by the building one evening a few months ago. It appears that it is now used as either some sort of city subsidized housing project or old folks home. The windows in the lobby and in some of the upper floors had the harsh glare of florescent lighting. I must have been directly downwind of the building's ventalation system. It was a nice evening and I was driving with my windows down. Suddenly, I was hit with a kind of "institutional stench" that I have previously experienced when I have been in places like nursing homes or inadequately ventalated day care centers. Not a nice impression.

If the renaissance of Oak Cliff and downtown continues, I think the building's proximity to downtown, its nice exterior and pretty setting will make it a great candidate for conversion into nice apartments.

http://dismuke.org/dallas/Clifft.jpg
http://dismuke.org/dallas/Clifmtch.jpg

[JonasDenton]

Dismuke, those are absolutely terrific postcard photos! Great information on your part, too. I just learned a lot more than I expected! Thanks.

[John T Roberts]

Another building of note that has since been demolished was the old First National Bank which was located next door to the Davis Building. It was demolished in the late 1970's/early 1980's and a parking lot has been there since. Also, if you look at the Davis Building, you can see that this post card was made before the addition to it was built on the left side.

[dismuke]

I think the addition really ruined the Davis Building. It made the building look lobsided - a sort of incongruous mess. Since I learned about the addition (If I remember correctly, I learned about it on your website, John), the reason for its unusual appearance makes sense. Before, I never could quite figure it out. It always reminded me of a badly decorated cake with ornaments thrown on needlessly and willy nilly. For that reason, it has always been my least favorite vintage Dallas skyscraper. It looked much better in the postcard than it does today.

[John T Roberts]

Additions to symmetrical facades always are tough to handle. I will say one thing about the addition to the Davis Building, even though it made the building asymmetrical, it was well done in the fact that the building materials, floor lines, and most of the detailing matched. On the lower floors, it really is hard to see where the original building ends and the addition starts. That falls apart on the upper floors where the architect chose to make the addition as tall as the base of the cupola.

[dismuke]

Had I been around and had it been my building, I think I would have followed the examples of the Adolphus and the Wilson Building and given the addition its own style. But, it is entirely possible that the top brass at Republic Bank insisted otherwise.

In a certain sense, for reasons John points out, I think the addition was too convincing in terms of matching the original. That's why it is hard for someone unfamiliar with the building's history to make sense out of it. Until I learned otherwise, I had always assumed that it was just badly designed. I am able to appreciate the building more now that I know. It would have been much easier, however, had the addition been been more easily differentiated from the original.

If they ever restore the building, they should, by all means, illuminate the cupola at night. Houston has a very beautiful vintage skyscraper with a cupola and at night it is very impressive.

[CTroyMathis]

Great posts Dismuke! Enjoyed all of them. I really like the idea of lighting up the cupola, that would look sharp.

[John T Roberts]

Troy, I believe if you dig up some old photographs of the skyline in the 1920's-1940's you will see the cupola/dome was illuminated.

[CTroyMathis]

That I will definitely do, John! Thanks.

[KevinFromTexas]

Wow, I'll have to tell my postcard trading buddies about that place! I collect and trade postcards, so far I have 845 of cities. 237 of these from Texas. Last weekend I went to the Austin Stamp and Postcard Show, and picked up almost 75 postcards. I got 1 of the Terminal Tower in Cleveland from the 60s. 3 old ones of Philadelphia, back when City Hall was the tallest in town. 3 of Moscow, 1 of Tokyo, 1 of Hong Kong, 1 of Auckland, New Zealand, 5 of New York, 10! of Seattle, about 7 of these from the 60s when the Space Needle still dominated the skyline. And I got one from Toronto and Mexico City. Didn't find any of Texas except one from the 70s of Houston. Still it was a nice find, especially for 25 cents a card! If any of you are postcard collectors, look into your city's postcard show, every major US city has them. You can find thousands of cards from all over the world.

I still don't have any from Fort Worth except one of Texas Motor Speedway. I have about 10 of Dallas though.

[KevinFromTexas]

gtaylor1. Could you tell me the name of that shop in Pikes Place Market in Seattle? Myself and about 10 others would really like to check that place out sometime. Thanks.

[CTroyMathis]

Kev, I know the place personally. I almost fell outta my seat when I first read taylor's post. I thought, holy sh... I know that place! I bought well over 200 postcards from the old lady that runs the shop the last time I visited. Old, older, and some new ones.

The shop's name, I can't remember. BUT, it's hard to miss. It's located within the indoor section of the Marketplace, on either the second or third level.

But, be warned. The lady is very old, and the last word I got from her was that she was going to close her business and take all her collectibles with her in the near future. I last visited in July of last year. I don't know when Taylor visited, but, I've frequented her establishment dozens of times. She often had closed signs on her door during the peak of business hours due to her being 'out sick.' So, I believe her when she says that she may close up shop someday soon.

She's one heckuva nice lady too, if you buy larger quantities of cards from her - she starts charging way less than she probably should...the stamps alone on some of them, and the other writing on the back are virtually priceless!

Wish ya'll luck on finding her store if it isn't shut down!

-Troy. I am due to visit Seattle in April for 2 days. I'll check it out too.

[KevinFromTexas]

Thanks Troy. I already have about 35 of Seattle, but it sounds like she had others. If she's there pick up a few if you go. I wouldn't mind some from up your way either! I've lucked out that we've hit a lot of dogshows in Houston and San Antonio, so I have about 40 from both of them. But only 12 of Dallas and 1 of Fort Worth. I'd like way more though. Hopefully next Spring we can make it to Fort Worth for the dogshow there, and I'll have a field day!

[CTroyMathis]

Just got back from Seattle and area. I can confirm that the shop is somehow actually still open. All her stuff was inside still, but, at the time I visited - she had a handwritten note that she was closed. Still, although worrying for her sake, it does imply that she isn't done with her business there. I didn't have time to revisit since I was in the area on 'business.' Anyone who happens to visit Pikes Place, visit that store specifically. You won't be disappointed if you're a collector of postcards and are lucky enough to find her open for business.

Edited portion:
I didn't visit Seattle when I was 'scheduled' to, but, still got what needed to be done. And, plenty of sightseeing and photographs. Great place!

[freewaytincan]

The infamous Como Motel, before its sign was leaning.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid43/pb982e019dfffac7851835951190ee942/fce6d883.jpg

[Dallas Smokestacks]

I'm trying to imagine an urban area without nursing care facilities for the aged. At least, older structures housing the infirmed who have special care needs. That was a great postcard of the Cliff Towers Hotel. Thanks for posting, but...

I couldn't disagree more with dismuke's commentary. This idea of the urban core is precisely why the whole 1990s resurgent visions of urban america disturbed me. So much of it is orientated to young, recently & relatively wealthy individuals who the city and the media would think better off maintaining these buildings. Since they are suddenly interested, they are entitled. It's a strategizing attack (in a different form) that Urban Renewal in the mid part of the 20th century advocated. It was this view that left huge holes in the urban environment. It was this view that destroyed communities and created Housing Projects. And now we are still with the assumption that blue collar and working class neighborhoods are some kind of social sin. Who inhabited the buildings that the cities didn't raze in their attempt to lure "classier" environments? What income bracket constituted the majority who stayed with every single major American city during all those years of urban decline? The working class. The lower middle class. Most parts of East Dallas, South Dallas/Oak Cliff, Northeast Dallas, and near downtown.
What class (lack of opportunity or loyalty) stayed with Detroit, Philadelphia, Louisville, Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle, New York City (Brooklyn, the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens AND Manhattan--all the way from the Lower East Side to Harlem to the West Side), San Antonio, Austin, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Portland, Los Angeles (Hollywood, too), San Diego, Miami (all those ordinary pensioners whose existence on Miami Beach is greatly what saved so many buildings--structures tend to crumble rapidly when uninhabited), Boston, Atlanta, etc etc etc. With all these cities, you had a few pockets of wealth, but the rest moved out into the suburban climes. As did jobs. Stores (malls).
The reason why so many "urban malls" and pedestrian-friendly urban corridors failed in the Eighties was because the focus was bringing the suburbanite out of the suburbs to shop at what looked a lot like what the suburbanites had in their own local shopping mall. And the local suburban shopping mall had plenty of parking. These structures & shops were not designed for the vast majority of the population that surrounded downtowns on nearly all sides. Nor did these "urban marketplaces" create an environment for small business creation, but rather, outlets of brand stores--brand stores can stick a toe in these shopping waters precisely they can afford this newly rent-increased property. Cities go out of their way to price out certain businesses.
For all the talk about bringing added monies into the city over the last few decades by trying to reach out and bring in the money and the more monied residents, the approach is only successful in the short-term. After the boom wore off, NYC faced either the dreaded tax raise or shutting down city services. I'm talking museums, library reductions, school closings was one choice. NYC raised taxes. This will effect the NYC economy. An extraordinary (and vulgar) economy in that city created tons of wealth, for individuals. In the end city services for citizens will always face the hatchet. (And this wasn't solely brought on by 9/11 either.) Meanwhile, tons of lower incomed (and this includes artists, musicians, trash collectors, etc) were pushed out.
Frankly, I'm no longer appalled by eyesores. I've seen the eyesores and the soullessness of so many projects pouring into these cities, some trying to capitalize on the Disney-Vegas playground fetish, that I am absolutely appalled by this activity rather than urban blight. Infusion of money can be good to the city, but the outright displacement of native residents..is ugly.
The desire of luxury and the desire to make the city conform to this luxury ceases to make an urban environment urban. It's just bringing suburbanized tastes, attitudes, and assumptions into the city. Highways that once rose midway above more modestly elevated structures have been waylayed and flattened because..they are too urban. That's a shame.
For Dallas, during its 90s prosperity (the great majority of it really generated in suburbs, with corporate relocations and housing tracts) it had an influx of new residents and a loss of the native population. So much for the idea of benefitting existing Dallas residents.
It's great that Dallas can lure independent film-orientated theaters. But Dallas has had many of those in its prior years, when a theater might not have a gush of foot traffic, but because of its low-rent status could actually exist. Manhattan, as Woody Allen has mentioned, was a film lovers paradise with all the revival houses and art theaters, in the downscale, bankrupt-nearing years. It was a cultural feast, in every sense of the word. Small businesses thrived among the neglect merely because the rent was cheap. One or two exist today. Megaplexes rule.
Monotony rules.
People accept this, for the most part, because the upscaling of the cities looks healthy. Well, it always appears healthy when the money is rolling in.
We live in a cultural vacuum. A void. Because we think money can solve our problems. Art--few openly say it--cannot exist without the influx of money has become a mantra. Perhaps it's a personal taste, but I've yet to see much that hadn't sprung forth
from people who for the most part start out with very little, or give up the sole idea of making money. The ideal (and the idealization) of the starving artist, the struggling artist did not signal that mere income or lack thereof brought forth creativity, but that having less makes one more prone to creatively using what they have. The more possessions you have, the more you become a target demographic, the more your tastes begin to define every single thing that happens. Instead of watching a film that an artist has created (whether you like the ending or not), the film world is now dominated to such an extent that what we get on our big screens --both Hollywood and Indiewood-- has been tested and re-tooled and rendered marketable. Our book culture nears the same. We don't have a more "thinking" populace, we have a populace, that in general, thinks that by buying what is advertised as "thought provoking" must indeed be "thought provoking." The majority are entirely nonthreatening market products.
I don't believe any progress has happened. Not with our Pei or our Gehry in architecture. Ground-breaking is a word that I now flinch at. While watching our culture steamroll over itself, in the name of progress, in the name of new "tastes."
I admire the rinky-dinky storefront, the dowdy neighborhoods and the promise that lays within what is left of them more than the idea of Victory. Victory is a project based solely on demographics. Everyone wants a 24 hour neighborhood in every urban area now. I mistrust those intentions. French Quarter in its seamier (24 hour) days had a hell of a lot more independent, non-marketed culture that the French Quarter today has not. Suddenly, people decided, having seen some "success stories", that there was indeed something lovely in that old quarter. Their money voted out culture and now you have bars, restaurants, boutiques and law offices. There was only one bar I went into where people seemed to be having any sort of fun--a small low-key bar. Everyone else in the streets and bars all had serious-I'm-looking-for-fun and/or were braying loudly in a rather bored manner--a cultural side effect that is increasingly more common.
People always talk with fascination at those neighborhoods where so much action is going on. The new thing before it becomes the old thing. Uniformly, ever single one of these neighborhoods were affordable. Then, and people will say "times change" (even within half a decade), ..then the neighborhoods become profitable and here's your upscale owner-run bar/restaurant. Here's your interesting gift shop. Going away are your small, often useful businesses--and one by one, even though old and new residents decry the extremely rapid change knocking down old standbys--comes your Starbucks. Some neighborhood businesses that took a chance and had a coffee culture, even found themselves surrounded on all four sides by Starbucks within the vicinity. People rant and rave against the predatory practice, but Starbucks enjoys their brand name, their
customer loyalty, and finally, the reduced will of the people who were against Starbucks (or any other corporate shop) giving away to concession. The new culture laughs at the hold-outs against the monoculturalization. "Disneyfication rants are such old hat." Within a few years, you have 4,000 plus Starbucks.
People wonder why they are bored.
With the influx of the anti-suburban rant films, books, news articles and television shows, people didn't move to the city en mass because they loved it. They moved because the status of the suburban environment was deemed "uncool". It wasn't "cool" before, but more just an existence, a reality. Hip & Happening is in. Nevermind, that the origination of what made it hip (mostly because it's low-key) is eventually transformed into an environment defined by its end-result demographic. People, once the cool has worn thin by the transformation, pronounce it sterile and move on to the next "happening" spot. Does this really bode well for a city? For instance, when all these young 20 and 30 year olds fulfill their Sex & the City or Woody Allen-laced idea of urbanity and, as usual, most of them want to start families, whatever are they going to do with their 1, 000 a month studio apartments or 500, 000 dollar studio home? Rents that depend heavily on prosperity. It would be a slap in the face to the city, the nature of the urban, to have "displaced" (not a strong enough word) districts of affordability--anyone can move in as opposed to chichi--which not just anyone can move in.
Factories and warehouses--always encouraged to move OUT of the urban environment--are mostly relics. Once, they were the lifeblood. Sustainers of the urban environment--and not beautification projects.
I look around and all I see, in people, and in cultural expression, are the absolute desire to have something that is sorely lacking--community. There's a chain restaurant based in Minneapolis that trades on this idea by co-opting the idea of the immigrant Italian restaurant (their origins are not immigrant Italian) with so much fan-fare and sloganeering suggesting that you, too, whilst dining can become an immigrant Italian. This goes far beyond a restaurant serving Italian food. This markets on the desire for the average American to have something he has not. Something that, in his or her ever booming and busting prosperity and the desperation to maintain it--it has destroyed. The desire is to be something else. To remake in the image of something more "exciting." To cash in on trends, economically and socially. To look (rather than be) a struggling artist. To then look like a hip young urban dweller.
Even the blue collar "attitude" was co-opted by a society that felt therein existed something worthy to market. Stores changed their attire from dressy suburban to "urban"--urban as in gruff, adventurous young things, with mechanic shirts and a new found love and dedication to the bowling alley (provided that it catered to the ever-changing fancies of those spending the money). If Urban Outfitters were just some creation of one person, rather than the constantly churning projections of a corporation, it would have some creed. But it's a corporation!
And you have a on-the-surface hard-hitting movie (with a happy ending) about Good Will Hunting. It touches on the blue collar, even using dialogue about the merits of being a brick layer, which within seconds drops the whole idea, for Will Hunting isn't just any bright blue collar lad--he's a genius! Anyone question about all those other bright blue collars (they do exist, but they aren't all geniuses). That wouldn't have been a film sensation. (Gus Van Sant went from profiling urban culture--with some fanfare--to giving into the mainstream--for a lot of fanfare).
Society champs at the bit for the white collar life. It sells so well. It might be dressed up any particular current fashion, but it's portrayed as how, we as Americans, exist. The majority of everything media - related caters to that imagined reality--and it's mostly an imagined reality. Why wouldn't the media and mainstream cultural sources of expression present this view of that desired reality--it's for the demographic that consumes so much and those not in the demographic passively accepting this version of reality. So we buy our new clothes and throw out our old ones. Rapidly. Little time to think about what we are doing. As long as we fit the look.
Society openly applauded itself for the great strides it made towards ethnic and gender-related equality. They made that the most important conversation-consuming topic. Meanwhile, city and federal government and people who preferred not to think about it or despised the idea of rubbing shoulders with people with lower incomes than themself, went about for decades trying, with little sustainable success, to rework the city in their image. You can thank them for the anomie caused by bulldozing and razing vital urban neighborhoods whose crime was being poor or just even poorer, whose crime was being not high-cultured (a very empty idea), whose crime was having crime (which will always exist) and these geniuses gave the urban environment housing projects--stripped of community. Stripped of every conceivable amenity that everyone else took for granted. These geniuses produced a massive increase of crime. Communities cannot be created instaneously. Sorry, it just doesn't happen. You can pretend, is all. This is the case in each and every bozo american housing project scheme. And even Paris, France has to face what it has done by isolating poorer incomed people to the periphery. By removing the populace of thriving neighborhoods for people who were charmed by them.
I despise when people rail at people on welfare, people who rail against Affirmative Action, without any consideration of just why these programs were created. They were an attempt at rectification. Half-assed. People at Housing Projects didn't create their environment. They were the only housing options becoming available. Urban Renewal created the community holes, all that vacant land, by using eminent domain ( a curse word, if ever)...Highways through viable, but low income neighborhoods. Which destroyed social fabric. Which made buildings that were worn, but not crumbling, left by slumlords who were told by city planners that that property was marked for NEW city projects. Landlords weren't about to pour money into basic upkeeping when JUST AROUND THE CORNER lay immenent destruction.
Many neighborhoods never had seen those projects to fruitition. The ones that did, often have generally lifeless concrete "modernist" structures. Progress? Or De-gress. I'd say the latter. Most of the years that followed every brilliant plan left nothing but nothing behind. Progress is mostly an illusion.
So much for equality. Less money, less say.

Style over substance. Grades over Intellect. Suburban schools score well because it's expected they do such. Parents push this value highly. And yet the deception is that rote memorization & writing acceptable essays is anything other than working a system. There's as many empty-minded individuals being churned out at private and suburban schools as they are out of urban schools. So the higher income schools can produce better SAT scores. So what. It's fairly meaningless when you consider how much culture suffers because so much is just conforming, then confirming the superiority of being above the rabble. I went to private school. I was a grade chaser. My classmates were grade chasers and there wasn't an original idea among us all. We fed off not ourselves, but what was on television. What was on the radio. What was not on the radio, thus subcultural, and somehow better than what was on the radio. Though we still watched the television. Still bought tickets to the blockbusters.

Society can pat and applaud and call itself visionary--merely because something is different or controversial--while ignoring what is controversial, since it is rather threatening. Damn it all, can't we just have a good time?! Aren't we somehow entitled?
Aren't people that bring up such topics just brining out old hollow crap about class warfare and yadda yadda yadda...Don't ruin my mood. Ever notice if you aren't going with the crowd (and everyone experiences this one time or the other) you are BRINGING PEOPLE DOWN. Don't bring me down, please. Wouldn't it be understandable if this was a rarity..that people actually wanted to engage in this discussion? Not so! You're better off saying nothing, or what wants to be heard, not needs to be discussed.

It keeps going this way and people keep lowering expectations that even when something dripping in irony and satire becomes a modelling and molding experience. I watched Seinfeld for years, because it mastered its own niche of comedic genius. The last episode was disappointing. It didn't have that verve and it ended a bit cruelly. I could still see that it ended in a misanthropic fashion, but it wasn't until a person who was watching brought up a comment about how the way it ended reflected the intended end result of the progression of a whole sitcom satirizing the lives of selfish people. I shrugged it off, until I started recalling the death of a certain character and the blase reactions of the characters. Many more characteristics came out in retrospect. I knew it was what you call a satire on the diverse eccentricities of individuals, but hadn't realized that the sitcom was more or else an outright satire. I don't think it intended to be a "social piece" but it did get many to copy the attitudes and stances and repeat jokes and retell episodes. Mimicry without thinking. Everything was gross, 30 minute stereoptypical characterizations. Pure entertainment. Let's not think about this too much--for it was funny. And that's really all that is needed.

So all this is nothing new. It's in books. It's in people's mind. Whether we want it there or not. But the lives of anyone other than the average person (and our own, of course) (and people we can relate to & empathize with, provided that they are "our people") (and whoever entertains us) are far more fascinating than whatever else there is.
Build/Revitilize/Sell Me It and I will come and I will wear and I will read and I will watch. You can make "bank".

So I guess old people are on the outs, not that they ever really been "in." Not fit for that Lake Cliff Hotel nowadays. My, my. Having driven past that particular building (if anyone has made it this far--this was what started it all) and not having the pleasure of that phantom "odor" aggressively assaulting my nose, I guess I was always under the illusion that Old Folks had a place in society, had a place in the urban environment. Suppose all those average renters and home-owners in the adjacent area really shouldn't be there--should amscray--because this place could be "it". Property values could soar! Everyone wins. Well, let's not quibble about that. Maybe they can move out to the suburbs. You know, the older ones that are experiencing property declines. Then they can truck in & do the jobs that the rest of us would rather not do. Ah, community. And if they are lucky enough, in twenty years, to make those suburban communities thriving, interesting places, then perhaps we shall patronize their environment. Maybe even move there. Bring along some realtors and investors and venture capitalists and help improve their environment. God knows they can't handle it alone.

I've been around my age group (20s) long enough to realize that hanging around and living with people in my age group doesn't entail any cultural renaissance at all. It entails drinking and wondering why am I not enjoying this. Why all of a sudden every other conversation is thin. Why so much creativity remains untapped. Why so much looks like something is going on, but it isn't. Screaming your lungs out can be quite a release, but as a cultural expression it ain't much to go on. Being esconced in style can be an interesting experience, but ultimately it's just style that begs for substance. How much is life worth if you keep envisioning a society that includes you and your clones? Keep mentally replacing all and everyone that isn't invigorating enough. (I use YOU in the tragedy of the second person and not saying that any or all of the characteristics are a portraiture of whoever might STILL be reading this).

This isn't being written because I think that I DISCOVERED the demented Shangri-La of what IS. Of what's happening. Just some pieces of puzzle I've picked up over the years, ignored, and then being plagued by questions of why are movies stupid AND profitable, why with all our educational advances, courtesy of suburban and private school systems, bestsellers are much like the bestsellers of yore--but more cries of where are the "real" writers....Of media laboring itself by concerning itself with current output and picking it apart, valorizing the past, largely ignoring the painful in between. The actual physical change and social change and the documents and opinions of the movers and shakers, their laws and their newspapers give a good idea of just what exactly had occurred. This is incriminating evidence, if you ask me.
We can laugh in ironic comfort when pouring money into Jackass (cuz it's dumb-funny, dude-- a must see) and get what fuddy-duddies don't get, and wallow in it and concede it's not much. Then the next one. The next sequel, the next remake. And, with irony, on the way to the googleplex, declare the vacancy of the culture and overglorify any movie that "makes a point", provided that point is cleverly made.

I don't apologize for length or content. Nor do I find it off-topic. I've enjoyed this forum in what little time I've been around it. Interest-orientated forums tend to have more vigor precisely because it attracts people interested in a similar subject, but of course, not with the exact same ideas. I've noticed people touch on and then abruptly leave a certain topic because it seems they've been ridiculed or shushed or told not to go on so in their lives because it's generally unwanted and therefore, unwarranted. I think this is quite sad. And quite indicative of just where we are it. Everything within this lengthy reply is an argument. That's my disclaimer. The lack of "I think" and "methinks" and "to me" doesn't mean that I think it's not open to debate. I don't laud those with lower incomes over the ones with higher incomes. I just want to point out, in depth, the extant of how cities have changed and by whom. And also, how those without money, and therefore voice, are trampled on. Doesn't mean necessarily their beliefs, thoughts, culture are any better. I cannot stand the rallying cry of Progress that refuses to acknowledge the costs. So as the cities are played as if they were legolands of our supposedly collective imaginations, shouldn't there be a pause for consideration that it's not a blank space being worked on? It's always as if we are working with a new slate. As if.

Tokyo, one often brought up for its vitality, pretty much was working with blank space. Tokyo was destroyed for the most part during WWII. It wasn't intentionally razed. It was consumed by burning fire. They didn't just decide to pull down district after district. They pretty much had to create a new city. They had to find a niche. Technology worked. Tokyo has what it has, because it had to rise like a Phoenix from literally ashes. Our desire to match the Japanese or German economy through whatever decade came not out of admiration, but out of envy.

I'd like to add that the Cabrini Green Housing Project, designed to isolate (apparently that's still the fashion), has been systematically levelled. Partly to acknowledge that it and all the other housing projects on urban land, have not helped anyone. Partly because it's an embarrassment. But partly because it's on valuable land. It's hot to be in the city now, as everyone knows. Developers are promising to rebuild affordable housing, but "could we place an upscale project or two here and there?" The idea, one always praised, is that you're helping people the neighborhood by injecting money. Not necessarily residents within the community, since they are mostly forced out, but the new residents. Which reminds me of the situation of Cabrini Green some years ago. If I were an alien from another planet, I'd laugh. But it's the real world. Cabrini Green and the outlying neighborhoods used to be moderate and low income for many years until people were sold on the city (sold, since it was being changed for them and not necessarily by them). Until its demolition building by building, it had become by the late nineties surrounded by ever increasing wealth. So for this Urban Renewal 2, I've begun to doubt the actual intentions of every city engaging in this project. The reality is that residents--whether housed in housing projects or housed in low income neighborhoods--are having to go elsewhere, not in the city, but outlying markets for the cities are having their glorious tight rental markets. Tech boom was gonna last forever, you see.

Rapid change just does not impress me. It just makes me realize how much we lose. How much we treat people like they are useless unless they are One of Us, and how much nothing's sacred. How often the lies are tossed out about improving the urban environment by removing an eyesore. About upped property values. About giving everyone new chances and opportunities because telling the truth--"this land is now ours, you have yet to have a Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which in our hands will be the epitome of world class, high culture..but thanks for sitting on it and paying rent on it"--might cause a real debate, or something. Something uncomfortable.

Want to talk about the death of downtown? Of any beloved institution? They were made uncool. Or irrelevent. People's attitude about the urban core didn't change overnight. They were helped along by advertising. About pulling away towards the beat of a "different" drummer--drummers that had a large gain for a well-wrought tasty tune. They bought automobiles, because they were NOW a necessity. Streetcar systems were pulled down, not because they didn't have any use, but they weren't selling cars fast enough for the automobile industry. They got on all of Ike's new highways. Driving over the remains of neighborhoods--at least not their neighborhood. They went to the suburbs. Rapidly, people didn't need nearness, density or infill. They didn't come up with this on their own. They were sold it. Soon their kids amble around mall enclosures generally enjoying themselves until, of course, they realized that malls are no longer where it's at.
Like a mindless cycle. Tail-chasing, but there's always the newspaper to tell you how much is being achieved! And don't forget envy. St Louis has a world class structure! (Sound of bulldozers). Cleveland has an arts district in the vein of Lincoln Center. (Gasp, courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Art Lover.)

Yeah, I changed around from me to you to we and they and this is unpolished and not as edited as it should be. I could have just written:
"Can we reconsider the mantra that (Any) Change is Good?"
Or less vaguely:
"Is there something wrong with financially-constrained and ailing Senior Citizens that I was not informed of? Are they now blight, too?"

[gc]

Holy cow! Smokestacks' post has left me almost speechless. I'll have to read it again and again. Smokestacks, that was another amazing post, and though I do not agree with you on everything, I must say that your posts thus far have been interesting and thought provoking.

stay tuned......

[tamtagon]

My favorite part of the short story was in the use of pig latin.

[gc]

i missed the pig latin

[tamtagon]

Here's a link to an interesting review of gentrification issues:

http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/es/urban/gentrification/gentrificationexsum.htm

[freewaytincan]

That was utterly amazing. You have just written down almost every thought I have had of the current "urban" renewal. I am in shock, in a total state of amazement. Suddenly I feel less alone, and more...well, understood. I feel that I am at last, one of those I admire. I hope and pray every day that people the country over will come to these conclusions. Wishful thinking. Wishing and thinking...

Wishing and thinking are two things that have all but dissappeared in the last couple of decades. We don't think for ourselves anymore; we have others to do it for us. We don't wish for anything; we already have it in reach. Well, at least the "average American" does...or they don't. The average American is not hip or cool. But he will be reshaped then told how awesome he is. I see it all the time. I remember that when I was in elementary, everyone wore Mossimo. Everyone. I, being of a slightly less "extravegant" family (my dad is incredibly conservative, lifestyle-wise) went to Target and such. I was un-cool, and that was one of many reasons. I also had opinions, and I thought for myself. As it turns out, that is no longer acceptable. I learned this many times, such as with the now revamped TAAS test. I was next to perfect every time. Every time. Yet, the same knowledge was rammed down my throat. Stuff I already knew. I read the entire encyclopedia in the summer after second grade. I remember it, too. Perhaps it is due to my "disorder", rather, my ailment.

I am a mental cripple. Don't you dare call me "handicapped" or "disabled". They are only hiding the real truth. Why? People can't handle differences, or other people. That's why I was labeled, and for the most part, outside a close group, I am still shunned my many. That's the idea behind the suburbs. Racism, and bigotry. Escaping the way things are, and sure enough, the way things are made it out here. So people ran more. Now they either run through the flames back to the middle, or outward, to the far reaches of the undeveloped land. Then they succeeded in creating a self-esteem generation of robots, who believe the biggest lie. Like those I deal with, who, for example, believe that George W. Bush is really dumb. Well, I know people who know him, and I promise, he is a smart man. They believe what the TV and Internet say. Why? There is "proof": seems our President didn't make fantastic grades in college. So? Not many people do. But since everyone has the false notion that the President is supposed to fix everything, then they expect perfection, or at least someone who gives everyone whatever they want, like Clinton. Then they whine about corruption. I lay it on the suburban generations. People don't see that the suburbs are not actually a symptom of the current social downfall, but actually a cause. What is the solution?

Everyone has decided that the word "urban" is great for everything. I am not one. When I say "urban", I mean it. Hence, UrbanLandscape. But no one sees it. They run around, with their Abercrombie and Fitch, in their SUVs, at Starbucks and Gap. What a sad life. They believe that that is how it is. They refuse to accept public transportation, to boot. People, as a rule, do not know what they want anymore. They just grab the nearest idea and run with it. Lately, it is moving to the urban areas. But who can? I know, that when I am out of college, I want to be in the urban areas. I believe in the true reasons of urbanity, and I will support it. But how will I afford it, when it is geared towards millionaires? See, urbanity is not walk in the park. NYC is not a pretty boy city. It is gritty and rough, and gives it character. You can't throw up an "urban" development in two years and expect it to be totally active! You need a full mix of people, with all kinds of unique things. That is what I want, but affordable.

What I want and what I get are two different things, thought, and I realize now, that as a an urban planner, I may be one to lead a society revolution. Perhaps not, but either way, I have a lot of work to do, and it begins with me. I hope I have the opportunity to make the right choice. I am only sixteen. I have a long life coming, and I want it to be the right thing to do.

[S J Postcards]

Just came here from the Dallas Historical Society message forum. Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time here exploring! Thought you might like to see my postcard website. Just my collection of mostly linen cards. Some from Dallas (Cities and Motels), a lot of diners, motels, hotels, restarants and other stuff too.
Snazzy Jazzy Postcards (http://funsguy.tripod.com/)

Enjoy!

[MustangMonkey]

Nice postcard links, good thing I have a popup blocker. :)

[S J Postcards]

Sorry about the pop-ups! I should have mentioned it.

But what do you want for free?

P.S. I use a Pop-Up Stopper too!

[crescentboi]

Here's some historic photos that I have come across...Most I've just found on general searchs. Others I found through the Dallas Morning New's site of photos for purchase.

[gc]

Those are pretty slick. Where did you come across them?

[leogrrl]

The photo of the Statler Hilton aka Dallas Grand... well, Crescent, I think I love you ;-)

[Lakewooder]

Found this:


http://rootsweb.com/~txgenweb/postcards/Towns/Dallas/MedicalArtsBuilding.jpg

I loved this building! It would have been perfect for residential units..alas and alack...


http://rootsweb.com/~txgenweb/postcards/Dallas.html

[drumguy8800]

oh wow!!!! I always thought that the Medical Arts Building was some structure so derelict and ugly that they had to tear it down. That's beautiful! Why was it torn down?

[Lakewooder]

I can't remember the reason, but I remember thinking it was idiotic at the time. I can remember last going in there in the late 70s or very early 80s. It was a bit dirty, but it had great bones, cool angles and neat hallways. I can also remember (an earlier time) when they actually had an elevator operator -- that was quaint even then (probably during the 1970s). Also, there was an auto garage next door with an elevator.


Anyone else remember this stuff?

[Lakewooder]

Found some more:

http://www.soultones.com/postcards/history.gif (http://www.soultones.com/pc_history.html)
http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/dallas.gif


<HR width=600>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=600 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/aerial_sm.jpg
<CENTER>Aerial View of Downtown Dallas
Dallas, Texas</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>http://www.soultones.com/clear70x10.gif The pictures on this page of Dallas, Texas are from a souvenir package of "20 Genuine Photographs" put out by Dallas Post Card Co., Dallas, Texas. The package is mailable, the price is 25 cents, and the actual size of the pictures is as shown on the left. They measure approximately 2 3/8 inches by 1 3/8 inches. We're talking miniature! There is no date on the package, maybe you can tell by some of the cars in the photos??

http://www.soultones.com/clear70x10.gifI'm fascinated by this little set of pictures because the buildings in Dallas are so magnificent!! I made them big enough to see the details, check out the larger version of the Aerial View of Downtown Dallas below!

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/aerial.jpg</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>Aerial View
of Downtown Dallas
Dallas, Texas</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/skyline.jpg
Skyline view of Downtown Dallas
from Oak Cliff Viaduct
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/lovefield.jpg
Dallas Municipal Airport,
Love Field, Texas
Courtesy American Airlines</CENTER>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/unionstation.jpg
Union Passenger Station
and Houston Street Post Office, Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/fed_bld.jpg
New Federal Building
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/mun_bld.jpg
Municipal Building
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/adolphus.jpg
Adolphus Hotel
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/smu.jpg
Central Campus Quadrangle S.M.U.
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/mun_audit.jpg
Municipal Auditorium, Fair Park
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/clifftemple.jpg
Cliff Temple Baptist Church
Dallas, Texas</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/masonic.jpg
Masonic Temple
Dallas, Texas</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=0 width=680 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/magnolia_bld.jpg
Magnolia BLDG
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/whiteplaza.jpg
White Plaza Hotel
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/merc_bank.jpg
Mercantile Bank BLDG
(30 Stories) Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/med_arts.jpg
Medical Arts Building, Dallas
Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/petroleum.jpg
Tower Petroleum Building
22 Stories, Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/firstnational.jpg
First National Bank Building
Dallas, Texas</CENTER>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/baker.jpg
Baker Hotel
Dallas, Texas</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/rep_bank.jpg
Republic National Bank Building
Dallas, Texas</CENTER></TD><TD><CENTER>http://www.soultones.com/postcards/dallas/ymca.jpg
Central Y.M.C.A.
Dallas, Texas</CENTER></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif Meet the man who bought the Postcards (http://www.soultones.com/pc_harold.html)
Or Go Back to
http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif Postcard History (http://www.soultones.com/pc_history.html)



<HR width=600>
Other sites I recommend on Dallas, Texas:
<TABLE cellSpacing=10 cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> Welcome to Dallas (http://www.dallascityhall.com/)</TD><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> Dallas Historical Society (http://www.dallashistory.org/)</TD><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> DALLAS.Com (http://www.dallas.com/)</TD></TR><TR><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> Southwestern Medical Center (http://www.swmed.edu/)</TD><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> U.T. Dallas (http://www.utdallas.edu/)</TD><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> The Dallas Morning News (http://www.dallasnews.com/)</TD></TR><TR><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> Dallas Cowboys-Official Web Site (http://www.dallascowboys.com/)</TD><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> Dallas Skyscrapers (http://www.dallassky.com/)</TD><TD><IMG height=11 alt="-->" hspace=2 src="http://www.soultones.com/postcards/arro.gif" width=6 align=bottom border=0> Dallas/Fort Worth Wildflowers (http://www.dfwalmanac.com/wildflowers/)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Lakewooder]

From the Dallas County Medical Society website:

1922
Ground was broken for the $1 million Medical Arts Building (http://www.dallas-cms.org/ss9/125/offices.html) on Pacific Avenue.

1923
The Medical Arts Building opened in March 20. The 18-story building supplied office space for more than 300 doctors and dentists.

1977
Dallas had grown and medical offices cropped up closer to hospitals, such as St Paul and Presbyterian. The Medical Arts Building (http://www.dallas-cms.org/ss9/125/offices.html#offices) (see photo below right) had been http://www.dallas-cms.org/ss9/125/photos/MARTS.jpglosing occupants and was not exclusively occupied by physicians. The building's owner, Republic Bank, began to tear down the building, but because it was so well-built, the demolition took 18 months and cost $1.8 million more than it cost to build.

[Lakewooder]

Another view:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/medart.jpg

I don't remember the building to the left, all I can remember is a parking lot there...

[Lakewooder]

OK, here's one more group:

A USGenWeb Archives Web Site



Home (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/ppcs.html) | About the Website (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/about.html) | Types of Postcards (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/types.html) | Submissions (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/how-to.html) | Contributors (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/contributors.html)







<TABLE cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=4><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle bgColor=#800000 colSpan=4>Dallas County</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/heart-s.jpg
Close-Up View of the Heart of Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/heart.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/skyln-s.jpg
Night View of Dallas's Skyline from Viaduct, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/skyln.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/sunken-s.jpg
Sunken Garden, Fair Park, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/sunken.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/rosegd-s.jpg
Rose Garden at Lake Cliff Park, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/rosegd.jpg)</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/expr-s.jpg
The New Express Highway Through Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/expr.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/magnol-s.jpg
Magnolia Building, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/magnol.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/bryan-s.jpg
Restored Cabin of John Neely Bryan Located on Court House Lawn, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/bryan.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/bakhot-s.jpg
Baker Hotel, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/bakhot.jpg)</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/aquar-s.jpg
The Aquarium, Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/aquar.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/adolht-s.jpg
Greater Adolphus Hotel and Annex, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/adolht.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/dmc-s.jpg
Dallas Medical Center, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/dmc.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/fpaud-s.jpg
Fair Park Auditorium, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/fpaud.jpg)</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/heart2-s.jpg
Heart of Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/heart2.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/jefhot-s.jpg
Jefferson Hotel and Plaza, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/jefhot.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/newpo-s.jpg
New Post Office and Federal Building, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/newpo.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/oakclf-s.jpg
Night Scene, Oak Cliff Viaduct, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/oakclf.jpg)</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/hilhot-s.jpg
Hilton Hotel, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/hilhot.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/kirby-s.jpg
Kirby Building, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/kirby.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/medart-s.jpg
Medical Arts Building, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/medart.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/repnb-s.jpg
Republic National Bank and First National Bank, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/repnb.jpg)</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/swbell-s.jpg
Southwestern Bell Telephone Company's Building, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/swbell.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/statue-s.jpg
Bronze Group, Sydney Smith Memorial Fountain, Fair Park, Dallas - by ryell Taft (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/statue.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/sntafe-s.jpg
Santa Fe Building, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/sntafe.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/titche-s.jpg
Titche-Goettinger Department Store, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/titche.jpg)</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/smu-s.jpg
Southern Methodist University, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/smu.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/smu-s.jpg
Southern Methodist University, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/smu.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/skyscr-s.jpg
A Glimpse of the Dallas Skyscrapers [1913] (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/skyscr.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/dmnews-s.jpg
Dallas Morning News, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/dmnews.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/holytr-s.jpg
Scene near The Holy Trinity College, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/holytr.jpg)</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/lynch-s.jpg
S. H. Lynch & Co., Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/lynch.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/sears-s.jpg
Plant of Sears, Roebuck & Co., Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/sears.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/txcent-s.jpg
Varied Industries, Electrical and Communications Building at Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/txcent.jpg)</TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle>http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/urscon-s.jpg
Ursuline Convent, Dallas (http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/dallas/postcards/urscon.jpg)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>






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[jsoto3]

Yeah, the Medical Arts building sat at the SE corner of the Republic Center block. There a few pictures of Republic Center under construction in our corridors. One of them has the Medical Arts building still standing right next to the first RepCent tower being constructed. I will take a picture of it and post it.

[crescentboi]

Here's the picture you were talking about.

Also...one of the big tragedies I think of renovations and rebuilding downtown is the Adolphus's numerous additions that look NOTHING like the original gem of a building. I have dreams of someday buying the whole block and tearing all the additions down and re-building them to the same style with the same details as the original tower. And for god sakes, get rid of the ugly parking garage and put it underground like any respectfull hotel would do (ie. Crescent Court!).

[drumguy8800]

that's such a shame! that building is beautiful!!! what the crap! wHAT'D THEY REPLACE IT WITH?

[jsoto3]

They replaced it with the remainder of Republic Center (2nd tower and 8 storey base).

[jsoto3]

I am especially upset with the demolition of the former Cotton Exchange (top left of photo above). Like many others, that site is now a surface parking lot.

[freewaytincan]

They replaced it with the remainder of Republic Center (2nd tower and 8 storey base).

Hey, at least it's that and not parking.