Belo, Alfred Horatio, House
2115 Ross Ave., Dallas, TXThe A. H. Belo residence is the only surviving example of the many palatial houses that once stood on Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas. Built in 1888 for the founder of the Dallas Morning News, the house was patterned as the family home in Salem, North Carolina (1849). Possibly the first example of the Neoclassical style in Dallas, the mansion was conceived at a time when other prominent citizens were building in the Victorian style.
Alfred Horatio Belo moved to Texas in 1865 after serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He entered into a partnership with the publisher of the Galveston News, and in 1875 he became the principal owner of the newspaper. During this period in Galveston, he installed the first telephones in Texas -- one in his home and the other in his office.
Mr. Belo along with his family moved to Dallas in 1885 to establish a newspaper in the booming Southwest cotton center. The Dallas Morning News was founded on October 1, 1885, thereby establishing its founder as the first publisher to print duplicate newspapers in two communities separated by more than three hundred miles. Equally significant was the establishment of the first telegraph wire connections in Texas between the two newspaper offices. A. H. Belo's influence as a publisher set standards by which other newspapers were operated, the most notable of which is the New York Times.
The Belo family residence at 2115 Ross Avenue was built in 1888. Many of the social standards of Dallas were set at this residence prior to A. H. Belo's death in 1901. His descendants continued to live in the house until 1926, at which time the property was leased to the Sparkman family. Major architectural revisions were made to the house in 1926 so that it could serve as a funeral home as well as a residence. Window sashes were changed to a fashionable style, the kitchen and servant's all were rearranged, a large chapel was added to the east end of the house, and the red brick edifice was painted white.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.