The Historic Black Lands of Texas, part 5

Over the ensuing decades, deep cultivation, cotton and drought were not kind to the black lands, and by the mid-20th Century farmlands began to be sold for other development. In 1947, a developer named Rick Strong purchased several parcels of land that surrounded a major portion of Orr Branch which became a Dallas addition known as “Hillcrest Estates”. Centered on a roughly mile-long stretch of Northaven Road, the tracts of old pasture and farm structures were subdivided, typically into 300-foot-deep lots, some with horse corrals, and restrictions required homes to be a minimum of 2,300 square feet. Landscaping on these semi-rural lots often involved adapting the native plant species. South of Northaven, a small chain of water impoundments lay along Orr Branch, some these descended from old stock tanks used by the precursor farms. With time, additional dams, bridges and retaining walls were constructed, with old horse shoes turning up in the excavations.

Publicado el 29 de mayo de 2020 a las 11:02 PM por jbryant