Reading progress stays in this browser. Device narration uses your browser’s available voices; it is not a recorded tour and may need a connection.
Dallas · a catalogue study
Edition 2026-10-09.1
A remote or manually navigated catalogue study. The order follows recorded dates, not a pedestrian route; nearby regional places may be far apart. No walking duration is estimated.
Check each place's actual location and visitor rules. A catalogue pin does not grant entry or confirm present access. Use the atlas record and linked sources to plan a visit.
Automatically assembled catalogue study. Where text is drawn from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 applies to that text. Wikipedia article and contributor links are included with each applicable stop. Passages may be excerpted or abridged and include additional editorial date context. Other sources and original observation prompts retain their own terms.
1. Millermore — relocated house
Millermore — relocated house · Original house completed (historical marker): 1862
The Miller family's house was built between 1855 and 1862. It was dismantled in 1966 and reassembled at Old City Park in the 1970s, preserving a nineteenth-century architectural form in a new setting. This pin marks the relocated and reconstructed house. Its 1862 date belongs to the original construction, not to the present park installation.
Observe: Which materials survived the move, and which were recreated? The relocation is a useful test of how much a present-day facade can tell us about an earlier building.
Access: Catalogue location only. Confirm current access and the observation point before travelling.
Record context: This pin marks the relocated and reconstructed house. Its 1862 date belongs to the original construction, not to the present park installation.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=site-dallas-millermore&detail=1
2. Ellis County Courthouse — circa 1870 predecessor
Ellis County Courthouse — circa 1870 predecessor · Approximate construction (Ellis County): 1870
The county describes a substantial yellow-limestone courthouse built about 1870 before the present courthouse. Its cornerstone was later found in the basement of the succeeding building. This node represents the earlier building on the courthouse square. It is separate from the standing 1897 courthouse; the exact former footprint is not established here.
Observe: What did the earlier tower and square look like? Compare surviving photographs, plans, and the recovered cornerstone with the replacement's layout.
Access: Catalogue location only. Confirm current access and the observation point before travelling.
Record context: This node represents the earlier building on the courthouse square. It is separate from the standing 1897 courthouse; the exact former footprint is not established here.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=site-waxahachie-1870-courthouse&detail=1
3. Collin County Courthouse — transformed 1875 building
Collin County Courthouse — transformed 1875 building · Original building completed (City of McKinney): 1875
The original courthouse was completed in early 1875 with a mansard roof and twin towers. A 1927–28 remodeling removed that roofline, changed the floors, and created the building's later neoclassical appearance. It now houses the McKinney Performing Arts Center. The 1875 structure was heavily altered, not completely demolished. This historical node concerns its lost nineteenth-century architectural form; today's facade belongs to the later remodeling.
Observe: Set the early twin-towered courthouse beside a current photograph. What surviving fabric ties the two appearances together, and what did the remodeling remove?
Access: Catalogue location only. Confirm current access and the observation point before travelling.
Record context: The 1875 structure was heavily altered, not completely demolished. This historical node concerns its lost nineteenth-century architectural form; today's facade belongs to the later remodeling.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=site-mckinney-1875-courthouse&detail=1
4. 1881 Dallas County Courthouse — former site
1881 Dallas County Courthouse — former site · Second Empire rebuild completed (National Park Service): 1881
James Flanders transformed the fire-damaged earlier courthouse into a Second Empire building in 1881, with a steep mansard roof and clock tower. It burned in 1890. A prior Italianate courthouse was built between 1871 and 1874. After it partially burned in 1880, James Flanders rebuilt the surviving walls in Second Empire form in 1881. That building burned in 1890; Old Red replaced it in 1892.
Observe: How did the square's skyline change between the mansard-roofed courthouse and the later Old Red tower?
Access: The pin uses the center of Old Red on the historic courthouse square; it is not a surveyed footprint of the 1881 courthouse.
Record context: A prior Italianate courthouse was built between 1871 and 1874. After it partially burned in 1880, James Flanders rebuilt the surviving walls in Second Empire form in 1881. That building burned in 1890; Old Red replaced it in 1892.
Record context: The pin uses the center of Old Red on the historic courthouse square; it is not a surveyed footprint of the 1881 courthouse.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=site-dallas-1881-courthouse&detail=1
5. Cumberland Hill School
Cumberland Hill School · Built (City of Dallas and Texas Historical Commission): 1888
Built in 1888, Cumberland Hill is identified by Dallas preservation staff as the city's only remaining nineteenth-century school building. It served children from a changing, diverse neighborhood for decades.
Observe: How does this small surviving school compare with the city's grander nineteenth-century civic buildings?
Access: The point comes from a building map. The Texas Historical Commission marker maps about a block west, so the pin should be checked against current parcel mapping.
Record context: The point comes from a building map. The Texas Historical Commission marker maps about a block west, so the pin should be checked against current parcel mapping.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=site-dallas-cumberland-hill-school&detail=1
6. Hart Furniture Building
Hart Furniture Building · Built (City of Dallas): 1888
This 1888 Italianate building is one of downtown Dallas's few surviving nineteenth-century commercial structures. It was later associated with Hart Furniture and restored in 2002.
Observe: Which parts of the Elm Street facade still show the building's nineteenth-century commercial character?
Access: The coordinate is a current parcel/address point, not a surveyed historic building centroid.
Record context: The coordinate is a current parcel/address point, not a surveyed historic building centroid.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=site-dallas-hart-furniture&detail=1
7. Alfred Horatio Belo House — Arts District Mansion
Alfred Horatio Belo House — Arts District Mansion · Circa construction (venue history): 1890
The Belo residence became a funeral home and later the Dallas Bar Association's headquarters. Its portico brings the vocabulary of a civic monument into a private mansion. The venue's history dates construction to 1890. Other accounts use 1888 or the 1890s; later additions belong to subsequent uses of the property.
Observe: Which columns, rooms, and facade details belong to the early residence? Compare dated photographs with the later funeral-home and bar-association alterations.
Access: Catalogue location only. Confirm current access and the observation point before travelling.
Record context: The venue's history dates construction to 1890. Other accounts use 1888 or the 1890s; later additions belong to subsequent uses of the property.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=Q24260757&detail=1
8. Old Red — Dallas County Courthouse
Old Red — Dallas County Courthouse · Completed (Texas Historical Commission): 1892
Completed in 1892, Old Red uses red sandstone and pale stone accents, with turrets and a prominent tower. It occupies Dallas's historic courthouse square.
Observe: Compare the tower, turrets, and carved stone with early photographs and the predecessor courthouse at this same site. Which elements survive from 1892, and which were reconstructed later?
Access: Old Red is the red, turreted courthouse at 100 S Houston Street. The neighboring Dallas County Records Building complex at 509 Main Street is a separate building.
Record context: Old Red is the red, turreted courthouse at 100 S Houston Street. The neighboring Dallas County Records Building complex at 509 Main Street is a separate building.
Atlas: https://tartariamaps.com/?city=dallas-tx&candidate=Q5211300&detail=1