DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official Texas Historical Commission marker has to say — and friend, this one's worth every mile. Picture this: the year is 1935, and Texas is fixing to throw itself a birthday party. Not just any birthday party — a full-on Centennial celebration of Texas Independence.
And Dallas has its eye on being the host. Now, a city doesn't just raise its hand and say 'pick me' without some muscle behind it, and Dallas had exactly that in the form of three businessmen — R. L.
Thornton Sr., Fred Florence, and Nathan Adams — who joined together and started pushing, hard, for their city to take the crown. They helped form the Centennial Exposition Corporation that same year, 1935, and that organization moved in and took temporary control of the State Fair grounds. What happened next is where the story gets tall in the best possible way.
They assembled a team — over one hundred architects, artists, and craftsmen — and set them loose designing an entire Exposition complex. Right in the teeth of the Great Depression, when work was scarce and hope was scarcer, this project employed thousands of people. Thousands.
The result was impressive structures, works of art, and landscaping that rose up out of Dallas like a fever dream of ambition. Then came June 6, 1936. Governor James Allred officially opened the gates.
There was a spectacular parade through downtown Dallas, guest speakers, and the kind of nationwide news coverage that lets the whole country know something real is happening. U. S.
Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper stepped up and delivered a line for the ages — he looked out at that crowd and said, 'America, here is Texas!' Six days later, on June 12, President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt themselves came to see what all the fuss was about.
The Exposition ran for one hundred and seventy-eight days and entertained over six million people. Six million. And when it was all done, Dallas was not the same city it had been before.
The marker calls it a turning point in the development of the city, and it left behind a legacy of art, history, architecture, and culture to generations of Texans. Sometimes the biggest things a place ever becomes start with a handful of men saying — we'll do it here.
What the marker says
As plans began to take shape for the Centennial celebration of Texas Independence, a group of Dallas businessmen led by R. L. Thornton, Sr., Fred Florence, and Nathan Adams, joined together to promote the city as the host of the major Centennial event. The Centennial Exposition Corporation, formed in 1935, took temporary control of the State Fair grounds, and a team of over 100 architects, artists, and craftsmen soon began designing the Exposition complex. Employing thousands of people in the midst of the Great Depression, the project resulted in the creation of impressive structures, works of art, and landscaping. Officially opened by Gov. James Allred on June 6, 1936, activities of the Exposition included a spectacular parade through downtown Dallas, guest speakers, and nationwide news coverage. In his speech to the crowd, U. S. Secretary of Commerce Daniel Roper declared "America, here is Texas!" President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt visited the Exposition on June 12. The Exposition ran for 178 days, entertaining over six million people. It was a turning point in the development of the city of Dallas and left a legacy of art, history, architecture, and culture to generations of Texans.