Park Cities — A trip down memory lane

8 min readMay 24, 2022

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As someone who lived for many years in NYC, I can confidently say that Park Cities is the opposite of a concrete jungle. And I for one, am eternally grateful for that.

I have been working on this guide in an effort to help our family gain a better understanding of Park Cities rich history and the journey made us appreciate even more just how special and unique this neighborhood is.

It made us see Park Cities not as a static snapshot, but rather as a living, breathing and continuously evolving entity, who’s future, we can only hope, will be as bright as its past.

Thinking that other people may find it useful, my daughter suggested that I share this guide on social media, and so here it is. Please enjoy.

Table of Contents

I: Highland Park: 1906 — present

II: University Park: 1911 — present

III: Park Cities private schools

Town size: 2.26 sq miles
Residents: around 9,000
Architecture: 50% of homes are 50 years or older
Homes: median year built is 1941
Nature: 20% of the town’s land is set aside for parks
Zip codes: 75205, 75209, 75219
School district: HPISD
Emergency response time: 2.5 minutes

1906: A humble beginning

The story of Highland Park begins in 1906, when entrepreneur John S. Armstrong purchased 1,326 acres of land bisected by what is now Preston Road. A true visionary, Mr. Armstrong envisioned a new, exclusively planned community just north of Dallas, naming it Highland Park in part because it was situated 130 feet above Dallas.

To design the town, Mr. Armstrong and his two sons-in law, Hugh Prather (Prather park) and Edgar Flippen (Flippen park), travelled to LA to engage the services of Wilbur David Cook, the designer of Beverly Hills. Cook made the trip to Dallas and, largely from the topographical map of the area, drew up his master plan for Highland Park, with 20% of the land set aside for parks. So confident was Cook of his design, that he apparently never returned to Dallas to view his completed work.

In addition to Wilbur Cook, other significant engineering contributions to Highland Park were made by N. Werenskiold, the planner of Highland Park West. Landscape architects working out successive sections included L. M. Jenny, Cleveland, Ohio; George E. Kessler (creator of Dallas’s first master plan in 1910); and Hare & Hare of Kansas City.

Today, the names of neighborhood streets still provide a glimpse into the long story of Highland Park’s antecedents and founding. They include Edmond(son) Avenue, Lomo Alto Drive, Armstrong Avenue and Parkway, Drexel Drive and Beverly Drive.

The neighborliness, beauty and nostalgia of Highland Park is captured by these streets not necessarily because of the size of their residences, but rather because of proportion and the overall architectural rhythm of the street. The wide roadways, generous lots, deep setbacks, beautiful landscaping, and uniform residence heights allows various architectural styles to harmoniously blend and flow, creating a true feast for the eyes.

1907: Highland Park is born

The town of Highland Park opened in 1907
Famous Highland Park marketing slogans included: “Beyond the City’s Dust and Smoke” and “It’s 10 Degrees Cooler in Highland Park.”

1912: Dallas Country Club

Mr. Flippen and Mr. Prather lured the country club to Highland Park as a drawing card to attract well off citizens of Dallas to their new development. Dallas Country Club is the oldest country club in Texas.

1913: Highland Park is incorporated

Between the opening of the first 100-acre section in 1907 and the opening of Highland Park West in 1924, Highland Park was incorporated in 1913
Addresses in Highland Park may use either “Dallas, Texas” or “Highland Park, Texas” as the city designation (USPS prefers the use of the “Dallas, Texas”)
Today, Highland Park has its own government (e.g., mayor, city council) along with their own police and fire departments. The town utilizes a Department of Public Safety model, with its direct responsibility for all emergencies, including fire, police and medical

1914: HPISD opened its doors

Armstrong School was the first school in HPISD, followed by Bradfield (1926), UP (1928), Hyer (1949) and Boone (2020)

The ‘Robinhood Plan’

enacted in 1993, this law recaptures property tax revenue from property-wealthy school districts and redistributes these proceeds to property-poor districts, in an effort to balance financing of all school districts throughout Texas
in 2016, wealthier school districts across TX paid $1.725B under this plan
Austin ISD paid in the most, at $405 million, number two was Plano, at $105M, Highland Park paid $87M, while Grapevine-Colleyville paid $34M

1924: HP Municipal Pool opens

1924 saw the opening of the Highland Park municipal pool

1931: Highland Park Village

Highland Park Village was the first planned shopping center in the United States with a unified architectural style and stores facing in toward an interior parking area, all built and managed under a single ownership.
The Spanish design was chosen by Hugh Prather, Sr. after a trip to Spain in 1929 with architect J. B. Cheek.

1940: Exall Lake Bridge

The pedestrian bridge across Exall Lake was constructed atop the dam in the 1940s
Exall lake was formed when the Exall Dam was constructed on Turtle Creek in 1890

1996: Teddy Bear Park

The teddy bear statues were donated to the park by the Harlan Crow family (the estate neighboring the park is theirs)

2020: Katy Trail

Katy Trail, as we know it today, began in 2000, but its history stretches back nearly a hundred years to the age of railroads. Union Pacific donated this unused railroad line to the city of Dallas in 1993, with the line converted into the beautiful greenbelt we see today

University Park: 1911 — Present

Town size: 3.8 sq miles
Residents: 25,000 with the population holding steady since the 1940’s
Density: 6,800 persons per sq mile
Residential parcels: 6,927 (for UP new resident packet, click here)
Open spaces: 60+ acres of parks, with a total of 640+ acres of open spaces
Parks: Burleson park, Caruth park, Coffee park, Germany park, Goar park, Smith park, Williams park
School district: HPISD
Zip codes: 75225, 75205, 75206

1911: SMU opens

SMU was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church (now part of the United Methodist Church), in partnership with Dallas civic leaders

1915: City of University Park

University Park began as a cluster of homes surrounding SMU in 1915
SMU supplied these homes with utility services until 1924, at which point the 380 homes in the area could no longer be supported by the school’s facilities

1920s: The Volk Estates

the large estate concept for University Park was introduced in the 1920s by Leonard W. Volk, a Dallas retailer
a 1926 promotional brochure for the area came with the following headline: “Own Your Own Estate”
considered one of the premier areas within Park Cities, Volk Estates is made up of 3 smaller neighborhoods (UP Estates, Brookside Estates, and Troth)

1924: UP Incorporates

Highland Park and Dallas both refused to annex the University Park area because of the financial burden of laying new sewer lines and supplying garbage removal and police and fire protection
in response, and to deal with the municipal challenges facing their community, UP voters approved the town’s incorporation measure by a 5:1 margin
when first incorporated, the city encompassed 515 acres, 380 homes, and 1,200 residents

1931: UP Municipal Pool Opens

Nobody is exactly sure when the UP pool was built (today known as the Holmes Aquatic Center), but most agree it was sometime between 1913 and 1931

1945: Annexation Struggle

as the town grew more prosperous, Dallas wanted to annex University Park back into its boundaries
in one of the largest voter turn outs in UP’s history, the annexation effort was defeated by a 53% to 47% margin
after their refusal to merger, Dallas used its home rule powers to annex territory adjacent to University Park
because it was now surrounded by Dallas, University Park was prevented from expanding, and its neighborhood area remained at 3.7 square miles

1989: A New City Government

UP approved a Home Rule Charter which officially adopted the Council-Manager form of government and expanded the three-member Board of Commissioners to a five-member City Council

2001: University Park Library

UP library originally opened in 2001, with the new library opening in 2013

2019: LOVE Sculpture

The LOVE sculpture is installed on the south side of Williams park
the sculpture was gifted to the City on long-term loan by a UP couple in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary (there are fewer than 25 original LOVE sculptures across the US)

Park Cities: Neighborhood Schools

In addition to HPISD, the parents of Park Cities enjoy many choices when it comes to choosing a best-fit school for their family, with options spanning everything from early education centers to preschools to private schools.

To learn more about private schools in the vicinity of Park Cities, click here.

Schools Within Park Cities

Schools to the North of Park Cities

Schools to the South of Park Cities

Schools to the West of Park Cities

Schools to the East of Park Cities

Park Cities — A trip down memory lane

University Park: 1911 — Present

Park Cities: Neighborhood Schools

Written by Eugene Vainshel, CFA

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