Hamilton Park

Hamilton Park, originally an all-Black subdivision, is ten miles north of Main and Akard streets in downtown Dallas, Dallas County. Two developments usually are associated with the founding of Hamilton Park. In 1950 several Black residences in the South Dallas area were bombed. In a January 1953 bond election the decision to demolish housing in Black neighborhoods for the expansion of the municipal airport, Love Field, was approved. Although these events were important, several home builders had attempted to relieve the housing shortage well before the bombings began. They worked with the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce (now the Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce) to publicize African Americans' desperate overcrowding in the city. But strong opposition from adjacent White landowners defeated the largest and most attractive projects, and Blacks rejected a 3,000-acre "riverbottom" site 5½ miles northwest of downtown.

The search for solutions made some business leaders aware of the problem. In May 1949 Karl S. J. Hoblitzelle, theater magnate and philanthropist, told the trustees of his charitable foundation about "the desperate need of the negroes of Dallas for housing" and proposed a large development. Though the Hoblitzelle Foundation failed to secure a site, it lent the Dallas Citizens' Interracial Association $216,872.93 in 1953 to purchase the land for Hamilton Park (233 acres). The association was established in October 1951 by the chamber of commerce and the Dallas Citizens Council. In addition to the Hoblitzelle Foundation transaction, it borrowed $423,619.99 from three Dallas banks to finance water and sewer lines to the property. FHA and VA guaranteed loans were available to Hamilton Park home buyers.

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William H. Wilson | © TSHA

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Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Belongs to

Hamilton Park is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

No

Place type

Hamilton Park is classified as a Town

Location

Latitude: 32.91706890
Longitude: -96.75888850

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No