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An Historic East Dallas Neighborhood Celebrates 100 Years

The East Dallas neighborhood celebrates its 100th anniversary with a tour of 10 beautiful homes, along with local artists, food, and festivities.
By Kambry Ruby |

Celebrating Munger Place
The front-porch charm of this East Dallas neighborhood will be on display as it celebrates its 100th anniversary.

 
Historic Munger Place is the largest collection of Prairie-style architecture in the United States. Many of the homes have been painstakingly restored, boasting grand front porches, ornate columns, and exquisite period details.

Driving through Munger Place in East Dallas, you’re bound to be struck by the subtle, refreshing change of pace in its Prairie-style architecture. These homes flaunt handsome horizontal lines and long lateral porches that evoke rocking chairs and lemonade – summertime can’t come quickly enough. And you’d never guess that this veritable drive-through museum boasts the largest collection of landmark Prairie-style homes in the United States. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Munger Place.

In 1905 cotton gin pioneer Robert S. Munger established the neighborhood as the “strictly high-class residence district” for Dallas social, political, and professional elite. Billed as the “Residential Showplace in the Southwest,” Munger Place was the first deed-restricted neighborhood in Texas – each home was required to be at least 2,000 square feet and cost a minimum of $2,000 to construct. Its formation marked the beginning of social class separation in a city that up until that moment lacked a core gentry population in a single neighborhood.

In addition to housing many of Dallas premier homes and residents, Munger Place was also one of the first Dallas neighborhoods to offer its residents paved sidewalks, electric street lights, street railway services, and telephone lines.

The post-World War II years saw the decline of Munger Place due to the conversion of single-family homes into multi-family units. During the 1960s, the area again underwent an increase in apartment living, resulting in the rapid decline of the neighborhood’s value and once-impressive character.

THE FACTS

Munger Place Home Tour

 

WHEN

Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sunday, April 24, Noon to 5 p.m.

 

WHERE

Old East Dallas Lower Greenville, south of Gaston

 

PRICE

$10 advance tickets, $12 day of tour

 

FOR MORE INFO

214-826-6431

During the 1970s, however, the East Dallas Community Design Committee formed and began efforts to restore East Dallas and Munger Place. Immense neighborhood rezoning followed, as well as plans for local shopping districts, such as Lakewood Shopping Center. Munger Place restabilized as a community and, due to the vast improvements, was added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1978.

Today, Munger Place continues to display outstanding examples of Prairie-style architecture, characterized by uniformly spaced homes of wood- and brick-framed construction, gabled or long, low-hipped roofs, and wrap-around porches.

In celebration of the historic neighborhood, the community of Munger Place is hosting its 28th-annual “Tour of Historic Homes,” featuring special centennial events, music, food, and easy walking distance between the ten open houses.

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