HAVING FUN AT 50 - Farmers Branch salutes its history
The Dallas Morning News
- Sunday, April 21, 1996
Author: Marice
Richter, Staff Writer of The Dallas Morning News
FARMERS BRANCH - When Ruth Ann
Parrish moved to Farmers Branch
with her family in 1942, she never imagined that Valley
View Lane would someday be a bustling thoroughfare lined
with businesses and shopping centers.
Back then, Valley View was just a country lane, even though its intersection with Denton Drive was the commercial center of Farmers Branch , its "downtown."
"It wasn't much of a downtown," Ms. Parrish recalled recently. "There were three grocery stores, a one-room post office and a service station.
" Farmers Branch was a farm community, and about all there was west of Webb Chapel Road were big cotton farms."
Nearly 20 years would pass before farmland gave way to suburbia, but it was a much shorter wait - four years - before Farmers Branch residents decided to take control of their destiny. On Feb. 23, 1946, 85 of the community's approximately 700 residents voted to incorporate, and four voted against it.
On April 10, 1946, the charter of incorporation was signed, establishing Farmers Branch as a general law city.
Now, 50 years later, the city is marking that chapter in its history with a yearlong anniversary celebration. Several special events are planned, and commemorative keepsakes, including a book and video on Farmers Branch history , have been produced in honor of the occasion.
Many longtime residents, such as Ms. Parrish, are marking the anniversary by marveling at all the changes they have witnessed and reminiscing about the old days. That was a time when "everybody knew everybody and even knew each other's dog's names," longtime resident Dalton Chambers said.
It was also a time when groceries were bought on credit and accounts were settled when the crops were harvested; when children walked miles to get to school; when people celebrated such events as the arrival of a fire truck and watched in excitement as a road was paved.
"It was a good place to live," Mr. Chambers said. "If you needed something, somebody was always there to help you out."
Although incorporation was the official beginning of Farmers Branch , it was settled as a farming community a century before that. It originated in 1841 as part of Peters Colony, an enormous land grant awarded by the Republic of Texas to the Texas Emigration and Land Co.
The first settlers arrived in 1842, and Farmers Branch was credited with many "firsts" in Dallas County, according to Farmers Branch , Texas - a Pictorial History , the book produced by the Heritage Education Committee at Farmers Branch Historical Park.
Among the firsts were:
* First peaches, planted in 1842.
* First wheat, grown in 1845, and first cotton, grown in 1846.
* First blacksmith shop, but the opening date is unknown.
* First tannery built on the banks of a creek, a tributary of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. The creek was named Rawhide,
which it is still called.
Mayor Dave Blair said the community was once known as Rawhide, probably because of the tannery. It later was renamed Farmers Branch , which was also the name given to a creek where the earliest settlers built their homes.
"No one seems to know exactly where the name Farmers Branch came from," Mr. Blair said. "It was a farming community on three branches of the Elm Fork, so that may have been it."
The primary reason for incorporation was to buy and improve a privately owned water system, according to the book. Shortly after incorporation, a $20,000 bond issue was approved to buy a larger water-storage tank and bigger pipe.
"At last, all the women in Farmers Branch could get water on Monday, the traditional wash day," the book states.
The landscape of Farmers Branch began to change significantly in the late 1950s, when farmland was sold to make way for new residential and commercial development. A huge horse farm known as Glad Acres was the last farm in the area, Mr. Blair said. The land was sold during the 1960s and is now the site of Brookhaven Country Club.
Farmers Branch has turned into a suburban city with a population of 24,250. The city boasts 3,000 businesses, including some Fortune 500 companies.
The 50th anniversary celebration kicked off last weekend with a ceremony that included the re-signing of the city's charter, unveiling of a commemorative brass seal and burial of a time capsule to be opened in 2046.
Other events planned this year include a hometown July 4th celebration in the Historical Park and a 1940s-era dance in September, featuring a big band.
The city has begun selling a variety of commemorative items, including T-shirts, coffee mugs, a video, lapel pins, caps and water bottles. Order forms are available at City Hall
Back then, Valley View was just a country lane, even though its intersection with Denton Drive was the commercial center of Farmers Branch , its "downtown."
"It wasn't much of a downtown," Ms. Parrish recalled recently. "There were three grocery stores, a one-room post office and a service station.
" Farmers Branch was a farm community, and about all there was west of Webb Chapel Road were big cotton farms."
Nearly 20 years would pass before farmland gave way to suburbia, but it was a much shorter wait - four years - before Farmers Branch residents decided to take control of their destiny. On Feb. 23, 1946, 85 of the community's approximately 700 residents voted to incorporate, and four voted against it.
On April 10, 1946, the charter of incorporation was signed, establishing Farmers Branch as a general law city.
Now, 50 years later, the city is marking that chapter in its history with a yearlong anniversary celebration. Several special events are planned, and commemorative keepsakes, including a book and video on Farmers Branch history , have been produced in honor of the occasion.
Many longtime residents, such as Ms. Parrish, are marking the anniversary by marveling at all the changes they have witnessed and reminiscing about the old days. That was a time when "everybody knew everybody and even knew each other's dog's names," longtime resident Dalton Chambers said.
It was also a time when groceries were bought on credit and accounts were settled when the crops were harvested; when children walked miles to get to school; when people celebrated such events as the arrival of a fire truck and watched in excitement as a road was paved.
"It was a good place to live," Mr. Chambers said. "If you needed something, somebody was always there to help you out."
Although incorporation was the official beginning of Farmers Branch , it was settled as a farming community a century before that. It originated in 1841 as part of Peters Colony, an enormous land grant awarded by the Republic of Texas to the Texas Emigration and Land Co.
The first settlers arrived in 1842, and Farmers Branch was credited with many "firsts" in Dallas County, according to Farmers Branch , Texas - a Pictorial History , the book produced by the Heritage Education Committee at Farmers Branch Historical Park.
Among the firsts were:
* First peaches, planted in 1842.
* First wheat, grown in 1845, and first cotton, grown in 1846.
* First blacksmith shop, but the opening date is unknown.
* First tannery built on the banks of a creek, a tributary of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. The creek was named Rawhide,
which it is still called.
Mayor Dave Blair said the community was once known as Rawhide, probably because of the tannery. It later was renamed Farmers Branch , which was also the name given to a creek where the earliest settlers built their homes.
"No one seems to know exactly where the name Farmers Branch came from," Mr. Blair said. "It was a farming community on three branches of the Elm Fork, so that may have been it."
The primary reason for incorporation was to buy and improve a privately owned water system, according to the book. Shortly after incorporation, a $20,000 bond issue was approved to buy a larger water-storage tank and bigger pipe.
"At last, all the women in Farmers Branch could get water on Monday, the traditional wash day," the book states.
The landscape of Farmers Branch began to change significantly in the late 1950s, when farmland was sold to make way for new residential and commercial development. A huge horse farm known as Glad Acres was the last farm in the area, Mr. Blair said. The land was sold during the 1960s and is now the site of Brookhaven Country Club.
Farmers Branch has turned into a suburban city with a population of 24,250. The city boasts 3,000 businesses, including some Fortune 500 companies.
The 50th anniversary celebration kicked off last weekend with a ceremony that included the re-signing of the city's charter, unveiling of a commemorative brass seal and burial of a time capsule to be opened in 2046.
Other events planned this year include a hometown July 4th celebration in the Historical Park and a 1940s-era dance in September, featuring a big band.
The city has begun selling a variety of commemorative items, including T-shirts, coffee mugs, a video, lapel pins, caps and water bottles. Order forms are available at City Hall
