The land that would eventually become Ferris Plaza was first designated special use park land in 1918. It sits on prime real-estate in downtown Dallas between Young Street and Wood Street surrounded by Dallas Union Station and the home of the Dallas Morning News. This plaza was part of George Kessler’s master plan for Dallas. …Read More
Trees are often consigned to the background of our memories as part of the scenery or as part of the proverbial ‘forest’. This is particularly true in a park setting where much of the green space’s agency is ascribed to the park patrons and how they choose to use the space. But no matter how …Read More
The West Dallas Gateway Pecan has served for over 175 years as the gateway to West Dallas, sitting today at the west end of the Commerce Street bridge across the Trinity River channel from downtown Dallas. Located on the south side of the intersection with Beckley Avenue, the tree has progressed from seeing the last …Read More
Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas. The park was designed and built in the late 1930s with the finishing touch being the planting of the trees outlining the park. Six Live Oaks, Quercus fusiformis were aligned along two fountains paralleling Houston Street. Live Oaks and Cedar …Read More
The Bur Oak grows beside the historic Big Spring on the edge of the Great Trinity Forest in southern Dallas County. The spring has been an important source of clean water for humans for thousands of years. For more than 200 years this tree has stood near the spring offering its shade and shelter. The …Read More
Comanche cultures and traditions are passed down from generation to generation through oral instruction and visual aids. Comanche storytellers would tell stories of Earth’s creation, and of how the wild animals or buffalo were released on earth. They told legends of mythological characters, often animals with human traits or character flaws, whose story supported the …Read More
Eastern Red Cedars were used by the Comanche for a number of important reasons, but this is the only tree of this species recognized as a Comanche Marker Tree. Small for a tree of its age, it proved it was old enough to qualify as a marker tree when tree cookies from its wounds provided …Read More
The Cross Timbers ecosystem in Irving was an area of great significance to the Comanche in the mid-eighteen hundreds. This particular area of Dallas County featured scenic views of Red Oaks, Post Oaks, prairie grass, wildflowers, acorns the women ground into a paste for food, native medicinal plants the healers used to make medicines, as …Read More
While it was surprising to many historians to find Comanche Marker Trees as far east as the Trinity River, the Comanche were not surprised. The “Lords of the Plains” had not forgotten the importance of “Pih-heet Pah-e-hoona”, the Comanche name for the Trinity River; the term translates as “Three Rivers.” Gateway Park and the Trinity …Read More
Bird’s Fort Trail is an early Texas trail that was used by settlers in the mid-eighteen hundreds. The Peter’s Colony map below (courtesy of the Irving Heritage Society) shows this historic site as it was known by early travelers, including American Indians. The Comanche Indians and other tribes heavily occupied this land prior to settlement. …Read More