7 minute read
LIVE LIKE A LOCAL: WEST END
OLD Greets NEW
Advertisement
DALLAS TOOK ROOT IN THE WEST END HISTORIC DISTRICT, WHICH IS BURGEONING WITH OPPORTUNITY
West End Square Park
By David Muscari
Drenched in folklore, Dallas’s West End Historic District bears unique prominence as the place where everything started. While it bears little resemblance to that past, the region is alive and growing with new businesses, restaurants, and a welcome new park.
Enterprising Beginnings
Dallas was first settled in this neighborhood in 1841 by Arkansan John Neely Bryan, who served as postmaster, ran his own store and trading post, and operated a ferry that crossed the Trinity River.
Other settlers joined him and a town site emerged in 1844, though it wouldn’t officially be a city until 1871.
Bryan was instrumental in establishing Dallas County in 1846, even using his home as a place to conduct municipal business. He also generously donated part of his land to build the first courthouse and county seat.
Though Bryan’s original log cabin is long gone, a replica stands today in Founders Plaza near the arched brick entrance to the West End.
The area is globally known as the site of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and for the outstanding Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza that chronicles his life.
But the district didn’t get its name until the 1970s, when Dallas was rebounding from Kennedy’s shocking death and working to carve a new identity. Local leadership by Texas Instruments co-founder Erik Jonsson, who served as mayor from 1964 to 1971, and retail maverick Stanley Marcus of Neiman Marcus helped the development come to life. The West End Historic District has since moved through a boom and bust Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
A replica of John Neely Bryan’s cabin
The Texas Schoolbook Depository building circa 1963
and is currently poised for considerable growth.
It began humming in the 1980s with such memorable and popular developments as the West End Marketplace, a buzzy collection of restaurants, bars, and an arcade in an historic warehouse. The decade also saw the rise of the iconic Starck Club, the original Dallas Holocaust Museum, which has since expanded, and the Sixth Floor Museum, one of the state’s most important tourist attractions.
In 1991, Van Halen played a free concert outdoors in the West End before 50,000 screaming fans, and Planet Hollywood attracted Bruce Willis to its opening fete. A modern multiplex cinema debuted in 1993.
By the early 2000s, the Marketplace was flagging — it closed in 2006 — and the city’s commitment to downtown urban revitalization took off.
The federally funded Dallas Innovation Alliance designated the West End as a Smart District for future innovation and technology testing.
Dallas bond funding, in partnership with the nonprofit Parks for Downtown Dallas, envisioned a pocket park in the heart of the district. West End Square Park debuted in 2021 as the welcome transformation of a former parking lot.
The area was a long overdue for green space, says West End Association executive director Phillip G. Honoré, who calls it, “the jewel of the neighborhood.” It is designed for outdoor recreation and events, such as an outdoor market, movie nights, and salsa dancing lessons.
Honoré foresees steady growth and redevelopment for residential, office, retail and restaurant activity. He believes the
Old Red Museum of Dallas County History and Culture
Dallas Holocaust & Human Rights Museum
Dallas World Aquarium
Wild Bill Dewbre
next decade will see, “significant and lasting densification of the neighborhood as it reaches its 150th birthday.”
The West End showcases primarily historic brick buildings and some of the most unique architecture in Dallas. Key office properties, including Factory Six03 in the former West End Marketplace building, Landmark, Crescent West End buildings, the Luminary, and the Purse Building, are attracting businesses, employees, and clients to the region.
These spaces are within walking distance of quality restaurants, living spaces, topnotch museums, and the new park.
The West End is easily accessible via all four of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail lines as well as major highways and thoroughfares.
Top Destinations
The Dallas Holocaust & Human Rights Museum (409 North Houston Street) was established 40 years ago by Holocaust survivors. After decades of planning and fundraising, the organization’s stirring new facility opened in 2019.
The Dallas World Aquarium (1801 North Griffin Street) is a one-of-a-kind place alive with spectacular flora and fauna from as far as South Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The acclaimed facility is a fabulous spot to discover the beauty of rare sea and rainforest creatures.
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza (411 Elm Street) in the Dallas County Administration Building (formerly the Texas School Book Depository) examines the life, times, death, and legacy of President John F. Kennedy in the exact spot from which Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed him. Related special exhibits and programming are presented in galleries on the seventh floor.
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza (646 Main St.) is a massive monument to the president that was designed by
architect Philip Johnson and erected in 1970. The tall, open white concrete cube appears to float above the ground.
Nothing is as it seems at the Museum of Illusions Dallas (701 Ross Avenue), which sits in the building that previously housed the Palm steakhouse. It’s a place to find offbeat, interactive
Dining Out
entertainment fused with education.
“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet,” says Bill Dewbre of the iconic Wild Bill’s Western Store (311 Market Street). The longtime vendor crafts custom boots and presents cowboy and cowgirl clothing with a modern twist.
The Old Red Museum of Dallas County History & Culture occupies part of the original 1892 courthouse and traces the area from prehistory to the present.
Other highlights include the West End Light Up Arches, a segue between the West End and Victory Park; horse-drawn carriage rides; and Dallas Segway Tours.
The Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse (702 Ross Avenue), which Dallas Morning News readers named the best steak in Dallas, delivers an authentic experience in a warm atmosphere.
RJ Mexican Cuisine (1701 North Market Street) dishes TexMex plus cuisines of eight Mexican regions.
Festive, family-friendly Gator’s (1714 North Market) is always a party with live bands, piano sing-alongs, and karaoke accompanied by steaks, seafood, Cajun fare, burgers, Tex-Mex, and a signature wall of frozen drinks.
At Ellen’s (1790 North Record Street), brunch is the order of the day all day every day. The restaurant presents scratch
RJ Mexican Cuisine recipes with Southern hospitality. 3Eleven Kitchen & Cocktails (311 North Market Street) plates locally sourced modern American fare and cocktails with a vintage Texas twist. Family Thais Asian Bistro (208 North 3Eleven Kitchen & Cocktails Market Street) preps quick and casual Thai comfort food, including curries, stir fries, noodles, and boba drinks. The newest establishment is Chet’s (208 North Market Street), a plush Irish- American pub with traditional pub grub plus a multinational menu of sandwiches and noodles and a large whiskey selection. Burger IM (1722 North Market) offers a variety of burger meats and felafel with custom toppings, sauces, and more.
John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza
A Bright Future
Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse Ellen's
Museum of Illusions Dallas
With a renewed commitment to awareness, lighting, and safety, the West End Historic District’s future is brighter than ever as a place to live, work, and play.
“The West End District is an anchor to downtown,” Honoré points out. “Millions come to Dealey Plaza annually to walk our neighborhood and enjoy fine dining, entertainment, and all that downtown has to offer. Our goal is to promote these experiences so residents, visitors, and our employees continue to come back over and over again.”
For more, visit dallaswestend.org.
