DIAMOND IN ROUGH COUNTRY

DeSoto is the best-kept secret in Dallas County: a peaceful community of luxury homes built on rolling hills and along meandering creeks. It has a low crime rate, and during off-peak hours it’s only a 15-minute drive from downtown Dallas. Since it’s on the south side of town, most people living north of LBJ don’t even know that DeSoto exists. But that may be changing. Exciting developments are under way in the southwest section of the county, which includes Southwest Dallas, Duncanville and Cedar Hill. DeSoto just may be the diamond in this rough country of natural beauty that finally brings glitter to “the other side of town.” When Texas celebrated its 100th birthday in 1936, there were 97 lonely souls in the community of DeSoto, which was named for Dr. Thomas Hernando DeSoto Stuart, who claimed to be a direct descendant of the great explorer. These were farming people who settled along Ten Mile Creek and its tributaries to take advantage of the rich, black soil. Ten Mile Creek was named not for its length, but for its approximate distance from the town of Dallas, as marked by those who had to cross the creek in wagons.

By 1950, the population had “exploded” to 298, and by the time Charles Harwell moved to town in 1964, about 2,500 people lived in DeSoto. Harwell went into the real estate business in 1971 and was elected to the DeSoto City Council the following year. During the seven years that he served as either councilman or mayor, the groundwork was laid for the spectacular development that is occurring in the town today.

The turning point was a $7.5 million bond issue that was passed to finance the water and sewer extensions that are now serving shopping centers and businesses that otherwise wouldn’t be there. “There was a lot of opposition to the issue,” says Harwell, who now owns the Century 21 agency in town and an insurance business next door. “Clint Murchison HI had invested in some land out here, and I thought it would be a good idea to let people know that someone of substance was willing to spend money in DeSoto. It took me four months to get him to come out here, and I called Joe, the photographer at the DeSoto Journal, to come over and take his picture for the paper. A couple of hours after Murchison left, Joe called and said that he’d forgotten to put film in his camera.”

When residential development got started in DeSoto during the late Sixties, most of the builders had come from Oak Cliff (and for that matter, so had most of the homebuyers). But then builders and developers from North Dallas began to notice the area-people such as Carl Mirkes, Ralph Kelch and Mickey Murry. Baseball legend Mickey Mantle fronted a group of investors who developed Mantlebrook, one of the most popular developments of the era.

During the mid-Seventies, a family could buy a four-bedroom house with all the amenities in DeSoto for $40,000. That same home would have cost 25 percent more in Piano or Carrollton because of higher land costs and greater purchaser demand. There is still a price difference, but the gap is narrowing-partly because demand in DeSoto is increasing, but mainly due to the fact that land prices there are skyrocketing.

An 80-by-125-foot lot that cost $7,500 10 years ago now costs $27,500, but that’s not the big news. Today’s frantic real estate activity is in raw land. “A year and a half ago, you could buy land out west of here for $5,000 an acre,” says Harwell. “That same land today costs $30,000 an acre.”

Harwell attributes the spectacular increase in land value to the recognition that investors are willing to make significant commitments in this area. He perceives a growing confidence on the part of sophisticated investors and developers that capital invested here is secure for the long term.

The Mai family is a good example. Kansas oilman Richard Mai and his three sons, Kurt, Mark and Rick, bought 228 acres along Ten Mile Creek that were too rough to grow corn and instead grew a country club. The Mais’ development, called Thorntree, has become the pride of DeSoto real estate brokers, with a 7,000-yard championship golf course, six tennis courts and a $12,500 initiation fee for a family membership.

Down the road from the country club, toward the main part of town, the Meadow-brook addition is the latest “in” neighborhood. There, the average house sells for about $180,000. Just south of Thorntree is the Frost Farms development, built on a chalky bluff overlooking a creek, where the tree-covered lots range in size from one to five acres and cost $80,000 and up. A lot adjacent to the fairway at the country club can be had for $100,000 or more.

The September 1984 issue of National Geographic includes a feature on Dallas, and there is, of course, a map. The map colorfully designates the communities of Dallas County by average family income, with the most affluent communities colored green. On the south side, DeSoto stands out like a green thumb.

This affluence is partly accidental but mostly planned. When you start with 97 people, it doesn’t take long to build up your average income. But when the town started growing, city fathers made sure that it was the “right kind” of growth by passing ordinances controlling minimum lot sizes and subdivision regulations with minimum square footage requirements. The city of Lancaster, just across I-35E from DeSoto, has been much more liberal, and on the Geographic map it’s a couple of colors away from DeSoto.

Until two years ago, there were almost no apartments in DeSoto, but during 1982 and 1983, permits were issued for nearly 1,500 units. Harwell thinks that this is a healthy development. “It will help us get some restaurants,” he says. “People who live in apartments eat out more.”

As with residential development, the town leaders have kept a close watch on the kind of apartments that are being built. Harwell says that most cities allow 24 to 26 units per acre, but the DeSoto ordinance permits only 18. This means that there will be more green space and higher rents.

“We’re getting good people in our apartments,” says Harwell. “They’re newly married couples and empty nesters. We’re not getting cutthroats and boozers.”

A few years ago, during a building slump, developer Brad Camp made a deal with Fox & Jacobs to finish construction on a DeSoto subdivision that Camp had started. The homeowners in the subdivision retaliated, claiming that Fox & Jacobs was going to ruin the area with “tract homes” that would be eyesores, since they wouldn’t have wood-shingle roofs. Many of these residents were refugees from Oak Cliff, and although it wasn’t openly discussed, racial tension was undoubtedly a factor in the opposition.

A lawsuit ensued between Fox & Jacobs and the homeowners, with the City of DeSoto in the middle. It became obvious to Dave Fox, chairman of the board of Fox & Jacobs, that although he could probably win the case in court, he might lose the public-relations war on the battlegrounds of DeSoto. The subdivision was finished by custom builders according to the original plan. The wood-shingle roofs in the area that have since worn out have been replaced with asphalt shingles (the same kind used by Fox & Jacobs), and a number of black families have moved into the area without incident.

Authors David and Holly Franke’s new book, Safe Places for the ’80s, lists the 110 cities in the United States that are the best places to live. DeSoto is the only town in Dallas County among that select group. The Frankes pored through stacks of crime statistics prepared by the FBI and state officials and made a list of the communities with the lowest crime rates. They then toured each of those cities to get a feel for the quality of life; in this process, Rowlett, Coppell and Wilmer fell out, but DeSoto managed to weather their scrutiny.

This doesn’t mean, however, that a resident of DeSoto can keep his garage door open on Friday night-at least not if he’s planning to mow the lawn or play golf on Saturday. Burglary does exist in DeSoto. Nor is it wise to venture out onto the main drag on a Saturday night.

Hampton Road is the busiest street in DeSoto, with four of the town’s six traffic lights. For some reason, it has become a weekend gathering place for teen-agers-not just those from DeSoto, but kids from miles around. The teen-agers, as well as a number of older fun-lovers, drive up and down Hampton Road, honking, gawking and stopping along the way to chat and litter the area with beer cans and Jack in the Box wrappers.

On weekends, the police department calls in the reserves and sets up dragnets to discourage the parade of youthful motorists. Tickets are issued for such things as expired inspection stickers and failure to offer proof of insurance. The town also has an “open container” regulation relating to alcoholic beverages, although some citizens question its legality. Recently, police have begun to use unmarked patrol cars and foot patrols and have reported an improvement in conditions.

But other than prowling the main drag, there isn’t a lot for teen-agers to do on weekends in DeSoto. There’s a skating rink, and the town has come close a time or two to building a bowling alley. When the latest proposal for a bowling alley went before the City Council, there was a great deal of discussion about whether patrons of the private club facility should be permitted to drink alcoholic beverages in the vicinity of the lanes or whether such privileges should be limited to the adjacent restaurant area. The headline of the DeSoto News-Advertiser later announced that “Diners May Drink, Bowlers May Not.”

This would have meant that the bowlers would have had to run over to the club to chug beers between frames, which could affect a fellow’s game. A couple of weeks later, the city agreed to allow beer on the lanes, but no mixed drinks. There’s still no bowling alley, but there’s talk now about a new proposal for a different site.

Historically, the churches in DeSoto, particularly the Baptist and the Church of Christ affiliates, have had a strong influence on local politics. Harwell says that when he was an active candidate, there was one local preacher who would get up in the pulpit and say, “Now you go to the polls, and you vote for Harwell.” Church influence today is not quite so obvious, but it is there nevertheless.

But even those who would personally rather not see liquor flow freely recognize that a little booze may be a necessary evil. Mayor Ernie Roberts can now proclaim publicly that he would like to see a Chili’s or a Bennigan’s come to town without committing political suicide. But if he ever wants to retire from politics, all he has to do is come out in favor of a discotheque.

DeSoto politics is Roy Orr country. Orr, a powerful county commissioner before retiring from politics to run a new bank in DeSoto with his brother Fred, lived in the city long before the population number was big enough to need a comma. There was a time when a politician couldn’t get to first base in DeSoto without Orr’s support. Although he still has considerable power, his influence has diminished as the town’s population has increased.

Orr calls these new politicians who win without his support “90-day wonders”: people who have moved here from larger cities and who take advantage of the relatively narrow base of support from which a candidate can succeed in small-town politics.

In the last City Council election, Jim Pugh was a good example. During the campaign, Pugh delved into some controversial issues, particularly a deal between the city and a company that Orr was affiliated with to build a convention center and a Holiday Inn. According to Pugh, the line between the financing for the public facility and the private facility was somewhat unclear. Orr supported Joe Johnson, Pugh’s opponent, who concentrated his campaign on an all-out attack on potholes in city streets.

In an advertisement in the News-Advertiser just before the election, Pugh asked some pointed questions about the financing for the hotel/convention center, and later in a runoff, he defeated Johnson by a vote of 714 to 480. Judith Watkins, editor of the News-Advertiser, also questioned the proposal, which the newly elected City Council ultimately killed by a vote of six to one, with only Mayor Ernest Roberts voting in favor of the proposal.

Asked to appraise the performance of DeSoto’s elected city officials, Watkins says, “The Planning and Zoning Commission does a good job. The City Council lacks leadership.”

Harwell thinks that the city government has actually matured since his day and that the people of DeSoto will be the ultimate losers if the convention center isn’t built. “The high school kids have to go to Arlington for their graduation because there’s no place in town big enough to accommodate them. All the city was going to do was authorize a tax-exempt bond issue, and they do that all the time for the apartment builders.”

As is the case in most communities, the people of DeSoto don’t fit easily into neat political molds and can be unpredictable at election time. This has presented a particular challenge for the DeSoto school system.

The school system is a strength in DeSoto and has drawn even more homeowners than the country club. Under the direction of Superintendent Frank Moates, who is highly respected in administrative circles, the system has thus far managed to stay in step with the population boom, but it has been a challenge. There are about 20,000 people in town now, 4,362 of whom answer the call of the school bell.

A school bond election, which would have provided funds for a 7,000-seat football stadium (among other things), was soundly defeated by the voters in 1983. Some voted against it because they thought that too much emphasis was being placed on athletics, and sports enthusiasts turned thumbs down on the proposal because they didn’t like the football coach, whose teams had been losing lately.

The school administrators went to work on a “back to basics” package that included funds for a new intermediate school but no football stadium. This year, the voters went along with a $7.5 million package-twice the amount of the one that failed-by a 60 to 40 percent margin.

Although the town is conservative and mostly Republican, it has its liberal moments. When Judy Moss was named principal of the high school in 1983, there were only two other female principals of 4A high schools in Texas. It is doubtful, though, that this was as much an effort at affirmative action as a recognition that Moss was a tough, effective administrator. The first thing she did at the high school was to set up an in-house suspension program. Now, suspended students stay in school and work in a sequestered area rather than hang around the video arcade.

The town is full of Eagles. There’s a “De-Soto Fighting Eagle” on the water tower, and there are so many Eagle teams in the soccer leagues that they have to be distinguished as Eagle One and Eagle Two, Eagle Green and Eagle Blue. The Talented-and-Gifted program in the schools is called, of course, the Eagle program.

Right now, Benny Jones is the highest-flying Eagle. Since he took over as head coach in 1976, the DeSoto High School baseball team has made the final four in the state playoffs five times. So far, there are no rumblings over the fact that Jones has actually won the state championship only once.

The school system has done well overall on state and national achievement tests of students and is extremely conscious of its image. Communications director Cindy Bradford was appalled when Texas Monthly reported that DeSoto graduates had performed poorly at the University of Texas, with an average GPA of 1.63. “We had four students down there that year out of 273 in our graduating class,” says Bradford. “It was hardly a scientific sampling.”

The city’s industrial park is called Eagle Industrial Park, but there’s not much there yet. If it weren’t for Cliff Johnson, who served as city manager for three years until his recent retirement, there probably wouldn’t even be a park. As a public administrator, Johnson was a pro, and he worked wonders in getting business and commercial establishments into the tax base to help take the pressure off the homeowners.

DeSoto has 20,000 people, fancy houses, Ten Mile Creek and Benny Jones’ baseball team-and still most people don’t know where it is. But Rich Robbins of K-John Realty is working on a project that he hopes will change all that. Robbins and his compatriots are going to give away a house, and since this is DeSoto, it’s going to be a nice house-2,555 square feet, three bedrooms, three bathrooms and a two-car garage-on a tree-shaded corner lot, backing up to a creek and worth $160,000. To win, you’ll have to come out to DeSoto and visit a real estate office, and then have your name picked in a drawing some time next spring.

After the giveaway, Robbins hopes that those bumper stickers that ask “Where the heck is DeSoto?” will become collector’s items.