"To preserve, protect, and enhance the Turtle Creek Corridor"
The Turtle Creek Corridor has been home to area residents for over 3,000 years. Discover the colorful history of our neighborhood and learn of the many organizations the Turtle Creek Association works with to guarantee a high quality of life for all who call Turtle Creek home.
Relics discovered in archaeological surveys confirm that Turtle Creek has been called home for thousands of years. Dart points and chips of flint from the making of stone tools date back 3,000 years to 1,000 B.C. Much later we know Native Americans camped here and enjoyed the outcropping of trees and spring water source. It is believed the creek came to be known as Turtle Creek when Texas Rangers camped here when they were fleeing attacking Indians in 1837. They referred to the water as the "creek with all the turtles.”
A significant development in the history of the neighborhood was the purchase of twenty acres in 1903 by The Dallas Consolidated Electric Street Railway Company. With further backing of land developers Oliver P. Bowser and Captain William H. Lemmon, Oak Lawn Park was founded, now known as Lee Park. Just a five-cent streetcar ride from downtown, the developers hoped the park would attract weekend picnickers and prospective land buyers to Dallas' first northern suburbs.
In 1915, the Dallas Park Board bought thirty-six acres from the estate of John Cole for $4,000 to establish Reverchon Park. A year later three bridges were built across Turtle Creek extending Maple, Fairmont and Bowen Streets west of the creek. In 1920 the baseball diamond was built in Reverchon Park, and in 1953 Willie Mays and the New York Giants faced pitching greats Bob Feller and Bob Lemon and the Cleveland Indians in exhibition play. Two fine parks were in place along the creek, but it was the vision of Landscape Architect, George Kessler who defined the Turtle Creek corridor and set into motion what has become one of the nation's premier urban greenspaces and residential neighborhoods. Kessler's A City Plan for Dallas commission of the Park Board in 1911 defined the corridor as a proposed development which will enhance the present scenic value of Turtle Creek, and will become one of the most important links in the boulevard system...it will be the direct means of conserving the high class character of an important residential section and of furnishing it with a direct and convenient thoroughfare to the heart of the city. Click here to view Kessler's A City Plan for Dallas from 1911. ![]() ![]() Today the Turtle Creek corridor is nicknamed Dallas' Front Yard and remains a showplace for the City. Neighborhood organizations monitor new development for aesthetic design, density, height restrictions and setbacks as construction cranes dot the skyline. The Katy Trail is a model for the rails-to-trails concept of urban recreation. The Perot Family is building their corporate campus on the banks of Turtle Creek with an initiative to preserve its natural beauty. We feel that William Grigsby, George Kessler and the City fathers would be proud of their beloved Turtle Creek today. |
Lee Park & Arlington Hall Conservancy Friends of Reverchon Park Dallas Area Rapid Transit Katy Trail Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center Rails to Trails Conservancy Courtesy of the Friends of the Katy Trail |
We are very honored that the The Turtle Creek Parkway is a featured landscape on The Cultural Landscape Foundation's (TCLF) website. TCLF is the only not-for-profit (501c3) foundation in America dedicated to increasing the public's awareness and understanding of the importance and irreplaceable legacy of its cultural landscapes. Click here to read the entry. |
On Tuesday, November 12, 2013, Isaac Cohen spoke as part of bcWORKSHOP’s Winter Shopfront Series. Isaac’s lecture was on the Turtle Creek Corridor, and how the layering of use, management, and development has created an urban landscape that provides highly variable and often unexpected experiences.
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