Preston Hollow (PH) is a neighborhood in north Dallas, Texas. It is bordered on the south by the city of University Park, Texas, an upper-middle-class enclave within Dallas.
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History
The area was developed by Ira P. DeLoache. In 1924, DeLoache bought a 56-acre (23 ha) farm; Preston Hollow's first lots were carved out of the former farm parcels. De-Loache and Al Joyce developed Preston Hollow, with development largely occurring in the 1930s. At first Preston Road was the area's only connection to Downtown Dallas. Terry Box of The Dallas Morning News said that the Northwest Highway "was nothing more than muddy right of way." The area that would later become Preston Center was a dairy farm in the early to mid-20th Century.
Preston Hollow eventually extended from east of Preston Road (the cattle-drivers' route to the old Chisholm Trail), slightly north of Walnut Hill Lane, west of Midway Road and southwest of Northwest Highway.
The developers intended Preston Hollow to be what Box said was "more than a flatland suburb on the fringes of a new and growing Dallas." Doctors, entrepreneurs, industrialists, lawyers, and oil businesspeople moved to Preston Hollow. Many built country-style estates that housed horses and stables. A private school which later became St. Mark's School of Texas opened in the area.
In the early 1930s during the Depression, Edward James Solon, the treasurer of a company called Interstate and the partner who came with Karl Hoblitzelle from Chicago to Dallas, purchased the first Preston Hollow corner property at Douglas and Averill Way. DeLoache built a Dillbeck designed house on the property. This Tudor styled home was considered the first of the many large estates built in what is now termed the Old Preston Hollow area--an earlier large house in the area, by the pond near Avrill, was considered as part of the farm.
In the 1930s, moving beyond Northwest Highway was considered "going into the sticks" and risky in terms of attracting affluent homeowners. Later many people said that E.J. Solon's estate started the North Dallas migration.
Incorporated as a municipality in 1939, and provisioned by the Preston Road Fresh Water Supply District, the North Dallas town of Preston Hollow was named for the deep wooded area with creeks and hollows extending westward from Preston Road. The bramble in Preston Hollow was unique in the Dallas area and all home builders in the area were to preserve it as part of the covenant.
In 1945 Preston Hollow residents voted to join the city of Dallas, and the municipality was annexed to Dallas shortly thereafter. That same year, the residents of Preston Hollow's southern neighbor, University Park and its southern neighbor, Highland Park, (collectively, the Park Cities) voted to remain independent municipalities.
In 1956, the neighborhood association's covenant stated that only white residents were allowed to live in Preston Hollow. This restriction, though apparently never enforced, and ruled unconstitutional by the US courts in the 1960s, was repealed in 2000.
Teardowns of mid-20th Century ranch-style houses in portions of Preston Hollow began after land values increased in the 1980s.
In September 2008, Preston Hollow returned to national headlines when New York Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams wrote a column claiming that U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush had purchased a home in Preston Hollow. Described as "a big house on five acres," Adams also claimed that this house would have "horse stables, lake views, mountain views, golf club views" and that Preston Hollow is "a town outside Dallas." Dallas media pointed out the significant factual errors in the column (perhaps, most glaringly, Dallas' location in the Great Plains region of Texas, where no mountains exist) and noted that the real estate agent cited denied both the report or that she had ever been contacted by the Post.
Residents
Preston Hollow has a wide variety of prominent residents including:
Politicians - Former U.S. President George W. Bush, former Dallas mayors Tom Leppert and Laura Miller and her husband, retired Texas legislator Steve Wolens; Christina Crain, the namesake of the Christina Crain Unit women's prison and former chairperson of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice.
Business Executives - Ross Perot, energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens, former American Airlines chairman Bob Crandall, software developer Larry Lacerte, Stream Energy Chairman Rob Snyder, and investor Harold Simmons.
Sports & Entertainment Figures - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki, former Dallas Cowboys players Roger Staubach, Daryl Johnston, and Chuck Howley, former Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks, former Dallas Cowboys football coach Wade Phillips, golfer Lee Trevino, golfer Jordan Spieth, current Dallas Stars player Tyler Seguin, as well as British pop singer George Michael and his partner Kenny Goss.
Noted residents of Old Preston Hollow who are now deceased include ClubCorp founder Robert H. Dedman, Sr., trial lawyer and Democratic Party fundraiser Fred Baron and his wife Lisa Blue Baron, and Mary Kay founder Mary Kay Ash.
Richard B. Spencer grew up in Preston Hollow.
Cityscape
Preston Hollow is located 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Downtown Dallas. Preston Road is the main arterial road of the area. Terry Box of The Dallas Morning News said in 1987 that the corridor Preston Road travels through, between the Northwest Highway, and the LBJ Freeway, is referred to as the "golden corridor" of Dallas due to its wealth.
Lisa Tanner of the Dallas Business Journal said "The lines that define Preston Hollow are somewhat blurred." She said that Preston Hollow has been commonly defined as being bounded by the Northwest Highway to the south, Royal Lane to the north, and Hillcrest Road to the east. She said that there were several "western measures." Mary Jacobs of The Dallas Morning News said that area real estate agents usually define the boundaries of Preston Hollow as the Northwest Highway, Royal Lane, Hillcrest Road, and Midway Road. Roland Anderson, a resident quoted by The Dallas Morning News, said that real estate agents use the name in the broadest manner possible because they believe the name has "panache." He added that, in the words of Jacobs, "Preston Hollow is really an amalgamation of neighborhoods."
Areas within Preston Hollow
The area belonging to the former Preston Hollow town is now known as the "Estate area." The area is in western Preston Hollow. Tanner said that the estate area is east of Midway Road and west of Preston Road. Jacobs said that the estate area is bounded by Preston Road, Walnut Hill Lane, Midway Road, and the Northwest Highway. She added that "The so-called estate area on Preston Hollow's western side boasts large lots with grand entrances, rolling hills and winding streets, and is home to some of the most luxurious mansions in Dallas." Walnut Hill was the northern boundary of the former Preston Hollow municipality. Terry Box of The Dallas Morning News said in 1989 that the area north of Walnut Hill was "less prestigious" but "still affluent, with well-maintained upper-middle- and middle-class neighborhoods stretching to Royal Lane."
Nancy Moore of the Morning News said that the boundaries of eastern Preston Hollow were Northwest Highway, Royal Lane, Preston Road, and Hillcrest Road. Most of eastern Preston Hollow is under the jurisdiction of two homeowners associations: Preston Hollow East and Preston Hollow North. Eastern Preston Hollow is divided into several lots. The houses in eastern Preston Hollow include 1950s ranch houses and newer, larger houses. The newer houses have 6,000 square feet (560 m2) or more space. Kay Weeks, a realtor of Ebby Halliday Realtors and a resident of Preston Hollow, said that over a 20-year period until 2009 many former middle-class areas became wealthier. Since newer houses in Preston Hollow opened, the land value increased. Many 1-acre (0.40 ha) lots, as of 2009, were selling for $1 million ($1116333.18 in today's money) or more. Some such lots in popular locations had a value of $2 million each ($2232666.36 in today's money). The newer houses are larger single-family homes. Preston Hollow North's boundaries are Preston Road, Hillcrest Road, Royal Lane, and Walnut Hill Lane. Preston Hollow East consists of the single-family houses in an area bounded by the Dallas North Tollway, Hillcrest Road, Joyce Way, and Del Norte Lane.
Government and infrastructure
The Dallas Fire Department operates Station #41, which opened on January 16, 1958, in Preston Hollow. Area residents and business owners refer to it as the "Preston-Royal Fire Department." Fire Station #27, which opened in 1948, is adjacent to Preston Hollow.
The United States Postal Service operates the Preston Post Office.
Economy
Preston Center, a commercial area, is located in proximity to Preston Hollow. The development includes two 20-story office towers that opened during a construction boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s. As of 1989 many of the Preston Center buildings were partially vacant. During that year Terry Box of The Dallas Morning News said that the vacant buildings were "viewed as intrusive symbols of the city's failure to control its growth" and "have come to exemplify much of what is wrong with North Dallas." Around that time residents tried to pressure area politicians into making the development more low-rise and further removed from the Preston Hollow community.
The Dallas Galleria and the NorthPark Center are in proximity to Preston Hollow.
Education
Public schools
Dallas Independent School District (DISD) operates local public schools.
Elementary schools serving areas in Preston Hollow include John J. Pershing (in Preston Hollow), Preston Hollow (in Preston Hollow North), Walnut Hill, and Harry C. Withers.
Residents zoned to Pershing and Preston Hollow are zoned to Benjamin Franklin Middle School and Hillcrest High School. Residents zoned to Walnut Hill are zoned to Cary Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School. Residents zoned to Withers are zoned to E.D. Walker Middle School and W.T. White High School.
Withers has a Spanish-English dual-language program. As of 2013 this program has a waiting list, and the school has a lottery system. Walnut Hill Elementary and Walker Middle also have Spanish-English dual language programs.
Histories of schools
In the 2005-06 school year, three elementary schools, Pershing, Preston Hollow, and Walnut Hill served sections of the Preston Hollow area. Residents zoned to Preston Hollow and Pershing were zoned to Franklin Middle School and Hillcrest High School. Residents zoned to Walnut Hill were zoned to Cary Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School. In Fall 2006, the attendance boundaries changed, with a portion of the former Walnut Hill zone being rezoned to Withers. The Withers section was rezoned from Cary and Thomas Jefferson to Walker Middle School and W.T. White High School.
In 2006, Preston Hollow Elementary School achieved notoriety after a lawsuit claiming the school's class-assignment policies violated the 1954 Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision. Judge Sam Lindsay ruled in November that the school's practices were not legal because they attempted to keep white students together even if minority students had to be placed in inappropriate courses; this ruling was mis-cited in at least one local paper as indicating that "all-white" classes had been created.
Private schools
As of 2007 most Preston Hollow residents send their children to private school.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas operates area Catholic schools. Ursuline Academy of Dallas, a Catholic girls' high school, is located in the Estate area of Preston Hollow. Non-Catholic private schools within Preston Hollow North include St. Mark's School of Texas (1-12) and Preston Hollow Presbyterian School (1-6).
Private Catholic schools in the surrounding area include, Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (Boys, 9-12), Christ the King Catholic School (K-8), St. Rita Catholic School (K-8) and St. Monica Catholic School (K-8). Other private schools in the surrounding area include Episcopal School of Dallas (PreK-12), Hockaday School (PreK-12, Girls), Parish Episcopal School (PreK-12), and Good Shepherd Episcopal School (PreK-8).
Two co-ed, nonsectarian private schools exist in Dallas that do not require uniforms, the Greenhill School (boys and girls k-12) in Addison, and Lakehill Preparatory School in East Dallas, which both serve as an option for parents who want to send their children to schools not backed by a religious organization.
Preston Hollow Early Childhood Association is a private preschool group for Preston Hollow area parents of children from newborn up to 6 years of age. The group organizes playgroups, social events, and other activities to support families of young children.
Colleges and universities
Preston Hollow is within the Dallas County Community College District.
Southern Methodist University is in proximity to Preston Hollow.
Public libraries
Dallas Public Library operates the Preston Royal Branch in the Preston Hollow area. It first opened in 1964. Its roof has arches above, and according to Andrew Scoggin of The Dallas Morning News this makes the library appear distinct compared to others in the library system. As of 2013 there is no funding for a new library building intended to replace the current library.
Parks and recreation
The City of Dallas operates two neighborhood parks, Netherland Park and Preston Hollow Park. The 7.2 acres (2.9 ha) Preston Hollow Park includes two baseball/softball fields, one soccer (football) field, two tennis courts, one basketball court, one playground, seven picnic tables, and trails. The 5.3-acre (2.1 ha) Netherland Park includes two tennis courts and trails. Preston Hollow East and Preston Hollow North, two homeowners associations that cover most of eastern Preston Hollow, organize recreational activities such as book clubs and gourmet groups.
Media
The Dallas Morning News is the local citywide newspaper. The locally produced Preston Hollow People is also distributed to residents of Preston Hollow.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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