Dallas Zoo

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The Dallas Zoo — one of those places that seems like it's always just been there, like the Trinity River or a good pair of boots. But every legend has a beginning, and this one starts in 1888.

That's when the city of Dallas went out and purchased two deer and two mountain lions — not exactly Noah's ark, but it was a start — and placed them in pens right there in the City Park. Two deer and two mountain lions. Someone in city hall had range.

In the 1890s, Dallas citizens threw their support behind the idea, the City Council opened the purse strings, and additional animals were bought for the collection. The zoo grew up in City Park — what folks now call Old City Park — and it stayed there until 1910, when the animals were moved to the newly acquired Fair Park. Change of scenery.

Then came Zoo Commissioner William H. Atwell, and under his leadership the collection was enlarged and improved, and a new site was purchased — this time in Marsalis Park, out in Oak Cliff. Things were moving.

Then the 1920s rolled in, the city created a special Zoo Commission, and here's where the story gets a little cinematic. The collection was further developed with the acquisition of numerous specimens from a man named Frank Buck — famed game hunter and trapper. Frank Buck.

The kind of name that sounds like it belongs on a movie poster, and knowing Texas, it probably did. The 1930s brought the depression years, and the zoo didn't escape the hard times — but it didn't fold either. The Federal Works Progress Administration Program came in and helped upgrade the facilities, keeping the place on its feet when a lot of things weren't.

Then 1955, the Dallas Zoo Society was organized. By the 1960s the zoo had become a popular local attraction, improvements kept coming, and what had started with two deer and two mountain lions in a city park pen had grown into something that entertained and educated the public — Dallas citizens and tourists alike. A hundred years from that first humble pair of pens, in 1988, the marker was placed to tell the tale.

Two deer. Two mountain lions. The whole thing started with just four animals, and Dallas turned it into a zoo.

What the marker says

The Dallas Zoo traces its history to 1888, when the city purchased two deer and two mountain lions and placed them in pens in the City Park. In the 1890s, with the support of Dallas citizens, the City Council provided funds for the zoo, and additional animals were bought for the collection. The zoo was located in the City Park (now Old City Park) until 1910, when the animals were moved to the newly acquired Fair Park. Under the leadership of Zoo Commissioner William H. Atwell, the zoo's collection was enlarged and improved, and a new site was purchased in Marsalis Park in Oak Cliff. In the 1920s a special Zoo Commission was created by the city, and the collection was further developed with the acquisition of numerous specimens from famed game hunter and trapper Frank Buck. During the depression years of the 1930s the zoo facilities were upgraded with the help of the Federal Works Progress Administration Program. The Dallas Zoo Society was organized in 1955. By the 1960s the zoo had become a popular local attraction, and more improvements were made. Still popular with both Dallas citizens and tourists, the zoo continued to entertain and educate the public. 1988