National Register Listing

Dallas Downtown Historic District (Additional Documentation)

Roughly bounded by Federal St., North St. Paul St., Pacific Ave., Harwood, South Pearl, Commerce, South Ervay, Akard, and Field Sts., Dallas, TX

The Dallas Downtown Historic District is the best surviving representation of the commercial and architectural development of Dallas from 1888 through 1958. The buildings range from one-part and two-part commercial buildings to mid-rise and high-rise skyscrapers representing 70 years of architectural development from the late 1880s through the late 1950s. The majority of the buildings in this area were constructed during the 1910s and 1920s according to the survey data compiled in 1998. A wide range of stylistic vocabularies is present, including Beaux-Arts, Chicago School, Classical Revival and other period styles, Art Deco and Art Moderne, as well as a variety of later modern idioms. The architectural resources of the area express the commercial aspirations of the city's most influential merchants and businessmen during the city's most vital periods of development. Furthermore, the city's early experiments with city planning are reflected in the physical planning in the Central Business District which received the most emphasis during these early attempts to implement such comprehensive planning efforts.

The Dallas Downtown Historic District is eligible for listing in the area of Criterion A in the area of Commerce and at the local level of significance, as it contains the city's most important commercial and financial institutions that shaped the city's economic growth. It is also nominated under Criterion A in the area of Community Planning and Development for its representation of early planning efforts in the City of Dallas. The district is also nominated in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance, as it contains many of the city's best surviving commercial resources reflecting the architectural development of the downtown area. The district contains significant resources that reflect the beginnings of Modernism that are so vital to the identification of the skylines of cities such as Dallas. The period of significance for the district is extended to 1958 in order to incorporate the full extent of the post-World War II building boom, and include key buildings that exemplify mid-century modern design embraced by city and business leaders in Dallas. The period of significance represents a discrete period with the majority of the properties being more than fifty years of age. The district, therefore, does not have to meet Criteria Consideration G because the majority of properties in the district are over fifty years old, and the district exhibits a continuity of development and reflects continuous architectural trends from the turn of the century through the late 1950s.

Local significance of the district:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2006.