Retracing History in West Dallas

City of Dallas: 1900s - 1920s 

Industry:

“West Dallas was founded in part when a group of Galveston investors established the Southwestern States Cement Company in 1906 and imported an entire Mexican village to build and run their cement kiln.” (Downwinders)

“Trinity Portland Cement Company (name changed in 1915) extracted millions of tons of materials from this land.” (Dallas Gateway)

People:

In the early 1920’s families tried to move into the city with nothing with them but what they could carry and no place to live. They were forced to stay under the now Houston street Viaduct and were urged to live in the “free campground” of West Dallas, the forgotten area that was designated for those unwanted (TSHA)

In 1921 West Dallas had no running water or electricity. The area was littered with several waste dumps, the cement plant, oil refineries and chemical plants let out harsh smoke, and chemicals and sewage poured into the Trinity river.  (Texas State Historical Association; TSHA)

City of Dallas: 1930s - 1940s

People:

The Home Owners Loan Corporation Map (1937) redlines West Dallas and will serve as a foundation for racial and socioeconomic based discrimination for decades to come.

Industry:

“Cement produced by this plant (Trinity Portland Cement Company) was used locally to build the Houston Street Viaduct in 1910-12, the longest reinforced concrete bridge in the world when completed.” (Dallas Gateway)

Trinity River Viaducts are constructed between 1930 and 1934 and by 1940, the current path of the Trinity River was established. (City of Dallas)

Murphy Metals (later known as RSR Corporation) opened a 63-acre facility and in 1934 started operations at the site. (Wikipedia)

In the 1940s (what is now known as) GAF moves into West Dallas, down the street from Trinity Portland Cement Company.

Annexation of West Dallas

Industry & People:

West Dallas is finally annexed into the greater city of Dallas in 1954. It took until this time for the area to get running water and electricity from the City of Dallas. 

In 1956 a 3,500-unit public housing complex was to be built just north of the RSR lead smelter facility. The southern edge of the public housing complex was located 50 feet (15 m) from the lead smelter’s property line. (Wikipedia)

In 1968 the City of Dallas enacted an ordinance prohibiting more than 5 micrograms per cubic meter over a 30-day period. This act went unenforced because in the 1960s RSR Corp West Dallas facility released more than 269 tons of lead particles into the air each year. (Wikipedia)

It wasn’t until 1972 that Dallas officials learned that lead could be finding its way into the bloodstreams of children who lived in West Dallas and the bordering community of East Oak Cliff. (Wikipedia)

1981 West Dallas Boys Club had to suspend outside activity after one soil test showed the soil contained 36 times the level considered dangerous for children.

West Dallas Neighborhoods

Map: West Dallas Community History Exhibit (Emily Jackson) + Dallas Public Library

Points of Environmental Impact

Across the street from the West Dallas Multipurpose Center that we gathered and walked around during class, a beautiful open-space park (and lake) hug a forgotten historic cemetery.

The walk was lovely and made me realize how many community stakeholders could benefit from the rarity of open green space, open water space, and a historic Dallas treasure.

Below are the photos captured on this walk...

POSITIONING TOOL 1: Squeeze The Sponge

After my colleagues wrote down some phrases that came to mind after my photo walk, the words that stood out to me the most are listed in (a) on the blue sticky-note. Narrowing that down further, the three that I decided to most focus on now are:

1. established community
2. open landscape
3. unkept artifact

For (b) I chose to select these images as the images that stood out the most to me because they all represent different features of the site. The first one on the left represents the open space of the park, the top right represents the open space and the established community, the bottom left shows the inaccessible and unkept artifact the bottom middle shows a strange contrast between the landscape and the artifact, and the bottom right shows another contrast but between the quiet pollution and the natural resources in the park.

POSITIONING TOOL 2: The Good & The Bad

(A) Note a couple interesting/positive aspects of the site, the community, or the challenge

{ SPACE / COMMUNITY / HISTORY}

There are several interesting and exciting things about West Dallas and the area we're studying. Firstly, Fishtrap Park seems to be in a great location. There are so many stakeholders and community members within the same block. You have Pinkston Highschool, Lakewest Assisted Living, and King Bridge Crossing Apartments. Not to mention, across the street you have the West Dallas Multipurpose Center. Along with easy access to stakeholders, there is great opportunity for park programming considering the amount of space provided by the park and the history provided by the cemetery. One last great thing is how eager some people seem to enact change. Hopefully on Wednesday, October 5th I will get to speak to Rosemary Hinojosa, a long time resident of West Dallas and South Dallas, and a respected member of her community, to learn more about the history of West Dallas and the La Reunion Cemetery.

(B) Identify a problematic issue that seems intriguing or important

{ LOCATION / WAYFINDING / PUBLIC INTEREST / HISTORY}

The main issue that seems to be a fundamental issue/roadblock in being able, or even anting to increase programming and historic context within the park is the GAF plant across the street. With GAF being the leading cause of pollution in West Dallas, it is not a great selling point or comfortable idea to try and get children and community members to occupy the park when they are breathing in the air pollutants that GAF is putting out (right across the street). Some others include a lack of wayfinding on site, and the racist history of the site.

POSITIONING TOOL 3 : Connect The Dots

(A) Alternative positions on the site, and relation between them.

• One of the reasons I picked this site was because of it relation and proximity to my work and interests. I’m deeply interested in the intersection of preserving historic landmarks (architectural or landscape), sustainable renovation and maintenance of those spaces, and equitable access across all communities.

(B) Match colleague’s interest with your own earlier data (share)

• Lauren, my team member is working with the Army Corps of Engineers and is currently studying water flow patterns around certain pockets of land. This felt like a great compliment to my interest in social and historical research so she can offer her expertise and interest in research surrounding natural resources.

(C) Larger engineering/urban issues (relate to each of your own interests)

• The site is quite amazing to me due to it's size, historic features, and relatively central location in Dallas, it's quite a rare space. Sadly, a big issue with this is it's connection to the larger urban ecosystem. The points of connection and paved pathways seem to be somewhat awkward and random. -- I wonder if we might be able to map and suggest improvements.
• Another urban feature that peaked my interest on site are the amount of residential facilities within walking distance from the park. And even on a beautiful Sunday, there was not one single person enjoying the outdoors. It would be interesting to cross compare the amount of residential spaces there are near the site, their demographics, and see if there is a discrepancy with the people that actually live in the area and what they would enjoy from a park. If not, what are some other reasons people aren't coming out to enjoy the space

POSITIONING TOOL 4: Structure

POSITIONING TOOL 4: After a couple site visits and the engineering/urban issues mentioned in point C of my third positioning tool, I began to notice these informal, natural pathways formed around the park site. Due to the parks size, lack of established trails, and what seems to be half-finished connections; you can see people began to make their own pathways (both pedestrian and vehicular).

This got me thinking about what other natural pathways sprawled across the parkway and what would these veins look like mapped out. Are there any connections? Are people and vehicles traveling differently? Which pathways are more used than others?

POV: The relation between historic industrial and social infrastructure, lack of general oversight in terms of rules and regulations for said historic infrastructure, and neglection of modern public space ties together to produce an area that should serve as an amenity, but fades into the background as an under-utilized community park. 

Pile It On Data Map:

Visual: community connection and access to both the cemetery and the park; are people visiting, what do they do when they visit, what existing roads or pathways connect to the spaces, what are some additional pathways that would help with the issue of connection and access. also - is there any wayfinding? do people know that they are arriving to/are in fish trap park, do people know that if you walk down a bit you will get to la reunion cemetery?

Spatial: tree canopy coverage (and heat island index) at the park and the surrounding area centered around the pathways, pollution (air, water, noise) and maybe resident income/ownership vs renting.

Social: do nearby community members use the park? why/why not? what recreational activities do they do there, what do they wish they could do there? would people be interested in having the historic cemetery beatified, maintained, and open to the public and a historic and educational resource? would community members be able or willing to organize around these community assets in hopes of improving them?

How do you plan to communicate/ collect data with West Dallas stakeholders?

I have already spoken with the team at West Dallas1, Regina Nippert with the Budd Center, Rosemary Hinojosa with DMAHL, and Matthew with Toyota. This has been a great start to connecting with the community and I have already had several resources and information shared with me as well as great leads and helpful hands that are more than happy to connect me more to the community. Ideally the next step would be to get connected with residents of the community to inquire about their personal feelings and opinions on the site and it's prospects. 

H5: Heuristic - Perception

MAPPING THE INVISIBLE : POLLUTION & HEALTH RISK

H6: Heuristic -Uncovering Mechanisms

RECYCLING HISTORIC ELEMENTS: INDUSTRY

H3: Heuristic - OVERLAP & CONNECT

BRINGING TOGETHER & CONNECTING FLOWS - EXPLORING OVERLAPS

H4: Heuristic - USER HABITS & VISION

INCORPORATING USER PREFERENCES AND USER UNDERSTANDINGS 

Acknowledge historic systems that contributed towards health disparity, inequity, and racism (social, cultural, and environmental)

Conduct community-based and grassroots outreach that attempts to gauge feelings towards past and present development

Increase programming and community building based on the responses from residents, schools, and nearby facilities

Redesign and maintain an updated trail system that properly connects Fish Trap Park and Rupert Park to each other and surrounding access points.