Old Vickery - Park Lane and Greenville

In 1958 the motor scooter license was on the same form as a regular drivers' license but was marked category C (commercial). On the rear a red inked rubber stamp was applied with the words,"Motorcycle Only - Not to Exceed 5 Brake Horsepower." The license was a very lightweight pasteboard and could survive sweat from carrying in my jeans pocket and a few inadvertent cycles in the washing machine but the red ink did not. I drove a small delivery truck short distances after school and in the summer from the time I was 14 and it was never questioned.by my employer or the police. I also "borrowed" the family car a time or two when folks were out.

Don't know if it was required but I took a drivers' education course to get my regular license. In Grapevine it was taught by one of the coaches as an elective class during regular school hours. If I recall you could get a learners' permit at 15-1/2 which was required to take the course then take the test the day you turned 16. The D E car was an early 1950's Chevy sedan with dual controls.

The "hardship" qualification had another application. By the time I was 17 I'd had a couple of accidents and bought a pick-up truck (brand new 61 Chevy) which I claimed as necessary for my employment in order not to have my license suspended. BTW I've never had another accident since.

A bit if irony, I now have to take a drivers' education course in order to get a motorcycle endorsement on my license.

M C



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2015 12:05AM by M C Toyer.

I was a mid termer, so started the 8th grade in January, about the time I turned 14. I don't remember if it was a required class or an elective, but a class that I took was driver education. When I passed this class (at end of school, in early June) I was authorized to get a learner's permit. The learner's permit allowed me to pay for and attend an actual driving class - seems like it was fairly expensive, either in summer school or after school in the fall - maybe not even connected to the Jr. High School. Anyhow, I took & passed this course, took the DPS test and had an unrestricted drivers license before I was 15. Maybe this was different in Houston than in Dallas, but I had several friends that did the same thing. Lots of us were driving legally in the late 8th & 9th grade.

Just chiming in on the thread as I have some sketchy memories of Vickery Park area "back when" in the Sixites before it went through the radical changes of the next decades.

My mom had a good friend, Dee (somebody) and her family who lived in a big 2-story stone house & farm off Greenville Rd. (I have tried to locate it via Google but no soap).

Seeing the old house was on acreage its a sure bet its long gone now and turned into a subdivision or Apt. complex, eh?

The home wasnt far off the main road, I recall it was built of stone and the front facade was arches... I think it was just north of the park, we also went the to the pool often with their family.

But mainly she came there to just hang out on weekends and have BBQ's and ride the horses. This was the location of the first time I rode a horse (well, pony) alone and also the first time I was bucked off a horse! One second you are sitting on his back and the next you are looking at the sky in mid air and the next you go WHOMP! and hit the ground and get the breath knocked out of you - assuming you retain consicousness you also get to hear the whoops of laughter as everyone but yourself is enjoying it immensely. But the BBQ and watermelon makes up for all the hurt feelings and sore rump.

Every kid should have the opportunity to get bucked off a horse. Lucky me.

I remember that house well. I grew up just across Greenville Ave. from it. At one point in the 1950’s my older cousin and someone who lived in that house had a fireworks stand on the property around July 4th. It was just north of Vickery Park and had a big “U” shaped drive in the front. I don’t remember the owners name but I will ask my 95 year old mother if she does.

I only go into Dallas these days to take my wife to Baylor Hospital for minor breast surgery to replace the expanders to a smaller size.
Then,get on Hwy30 to go to Mesquite for her JoAnn's supplies.
Too many weird people out there for me.
Much safer out here in Gun Barrel City where we don't have race problems to deal with.

Chuck, I'd bet that the violent crime data for Henderson County are up there with most of the rest of rural Texas, that is higher than most cities. Dallas, though historically a high crime city, is a generally safe place to be, and interracial problems there seem relatively minor compared to other parts of the country. At least no one has been drug behind a pick up truck for being of a different complexion than the driver, as has happened in East Texas, or buried in their wife's front yard for insurance money.

Constant harping on race seems out of place here, to me.

Dave McNeely

Here is a photo of the old stone tower that was located at the corner of Greenville Ave. and Glen Lakes Drive (later Walnut Hill Drive). This is the south side of the tower. My grandmother lived in the house you can see to the right, which was across Glen Lakes Drive and I lived to the left of the tower, again across the street.

A photo of the tower. I lived across the street from it.

A photo of the tower. I lived across the street from it.

A photo of the tower. I lived across the street from it.

What was the tower about? It looks like the sort of thing that some developers used to build at entrances to housing neighborhoods, but maybe more substantial. I remember seeing such things at various places around Dallas back in the day. This was further north, but there were similar towers near Mockingbird and Abrams and Mockingbird and Skillman, I think, circa 1960. Also at Greenville and Mockingbird, NE corner. Smaller versions were present in the neighborhood to the north of Woodrow Wilson HS and JL Long Jr. HS. Maybe along Tremont Ave.

Dave McNeely

jwholley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A photo of the tower. I lived across the street
> from it.
>


I still would like to know what that tower was, and why it was there. It actually looks like some sort of a guard tower, but .... .

Dave McNeely

“It was there when the land was acquired for the Reynolds Presbyterian Orphans Home in the middle 1920s”, said Ralph Read, executive director of the home, which has since been relocated at Waxahachie. “I understand it served as the base for a water tank for a very elegant pioneer mansion which burned to the ground long before the land was obtained for the orphans home,” Mr. Read said.

MYSTERIOUS DALLAS LANDMARK DEMOLISHED

[dallasgateway.com]

“It was there when the land was acquired for the Reynolds Presbyterian Orphans Home in the middle 1920s”, said Ralph Read, executive director of the home, which has since been relocated at Waxahachie. “I understand it served as the base for a water tank for a very elegant pioneer mansion which burned to the ground long before the land was obtained for the orphans home,” Mr. Read said.

MYSTERIOUS DALLAS LANDMARK DEMOLISHED

[dallasgateway.com]

Thanks Frank, so, a water tower. Pretty ornate, but if part of a farm, likely served other purposes as well.

Dave McNeely

Likely the best explanation possible since the best answer100yrs later
was "I understand", so not first-hand knowledge.

BTW, I D/Led the original photo in this post so I could enlarge it.
On the right side of the structure there is a person apparently with their
pants pulled partway down. So this was probably a "gotcha" moment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2020 05:48AM by Frank.

Frank, how funny! And since you pointed it out, the person who was in the process of dropping trow is in fact evident in the photo. Anyone know how old the photo is? Car to the left appears to be maybe a 1950s model, but not clear, and not identifiable by me.

Dave McNeely

Dave

My very, very, very uneducated GUESS:
An early to mid-60s Thunderbird, possibly a convertible.
1. The front hood/grill/lights seems to have a horizontal wedge shape.
2. It seems to be a 2-door because there is no discernible rear door handle below
the side back window.
3, A sedan would likely not have fender skirts on the rear as this car has.
4. Convertible? A lot of that era Thunderbirds were convertibles. B&W photo,
but the body of the car is light, but a slightly darker shade than the top.

Flimsy? Yep.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/2020 03:53PM by Frank.

Frank, I think that is a pretty good analysis. So far as the top is lighter shade than the rest of the car, I don't remember if hard top Thunderbirds came that way, but lots of cars did in fifties and sixties. The profile of the car, after your analysis and I look at it more carefully, fits Thunderbird, especially the roofline. I also would say it could be as early as a 1958, which I think was the first year that 4 seater Thunderbirds were sold. and I certainly would not argue that it is not a convertible. I just was mentioning the other possibility, of a two tone paint job. Ford liked a pale sea green color paired with white in a lot of its offerings, including all three brands.

Dave McNeely

The school on Holly Hill was Vickery Elementry after 1938. Before that it was still called Vickery School but went from the first grade through the 12th grade. When Vickery/Hillcrest was completed in 1938 the 8th through 12th grades at Vickery transfered to Vickery/Hillcrest. My mother was in the first graduating class of Vickery/Hillcrest in 1939. I still have her annual from that graduating class.