Hall of State
Encyclopedia
Fair Park
Dallas Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex located in Dallas, Texas . The complex is registered as a Dallas Landmark, National Historic Landmark and is home to nine museums, six performance facilities, a lagoon, and the largest Ferris wheel in North America...
that commemorates the history of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and is considered one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
in the state.
History
Built in 1936 at the astronomical (especially during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
) price of $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1.2 million, the building was the most expensive per unit area of any structure built in Texas. It was designed for the centennial of the Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
by architect Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme (architect)
Donald Barthelme, Sr. was a prominent architect in Houston, Texas, a teacher of architecture as a professor at the University of Houston and Rice University, and the father of novelist Donald Barthelme, Jr.....
in the beaux arts style and is considered one of the most representative examples of art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
architecture in Texas. Most of the Art Deco ornamental metalwork, including the light fixtures were made by Potter Art Metal Studios of Dallas; a 90 year old company still in existence today. The Hall of State is the culmination of the 1500 feet (457.2 m) long Esplanade of State which is flanked by six exhibition pavilions and features a long reflecting pool
Reflecting pool
A reflecting pool or reflection pool is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and at memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a calm reflective...
. It was built using Texas limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and features memorials to many of the heroes of Texas history.
Current
The Dallas Historical SocietyDallas Historical Society
The Dallas Historical Society is an organization dedicated to the history of Dallas, Texas . It was organized on March 31, 1922, by citizens who wished to encourage historical inquiry. In 1938, the Society assumed the management of the Hall of State at Fair Park at the request of the City of Dallas...
has been responsible for managing the Hall of State since 1938. The Hall of State is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as a part of Fair Park
Fair Park
Dallas Fair Park is a recreational and educational complex located in Dallas, Texas . The complex is registered as a Dallas Landmark, National Historic Landmark and is home to nine museums, six performance facilities, a lagoon, and the largest Ferris wheel in North America...
. In 1986, the building was restored at a cost of approximately $1.5 million, and the G.B. Dealey Library was opened.
The G.B. Dealey Library, located in the East Texas
East Texas
East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
room of the Hall of State, holds more than ten thousand bound volumes and three million historic documents, including Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
's handwritten account of the battle of San Jacinto
Battle of San Jacinto
The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces in a fight that lasted just eighteen...
.
The Dallas Historical Society rents the Hall of State for events and provides guided tours to school groups.
The structure became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark is a designation awarded by the Texas Historical Commission for historically and architecturally significant properties in the state of Texas....
in 1981.
Architecture
Exedra
In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical...
at the entrance to the Hall of Texas features 76 feet (23.2 m) tall limestone pillars sit in front of blue tiles designed to evoke the state's flower, the bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis
Lupinus texensis
Lupinus texensis is a species of lupine which is endemic to Texas. With other related species of lupines also called bluebonnets, it is the state flower of Texas....
). In the center, above the entrance is an 11 feet (3.4 m) bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
with gold leaf statue of the "Tejas Warrior": an archer
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
ready to fire.
Inside the Hall of State is the Hall of Heroes, which features six bronze statues of James Fannin
James Fannin
James Walker Fannin, Jr. was a 19th-century U.S. military figure on the Texas Army and leader during the Texas Revolution of 1835–36...
, Mirabeau B. Lamar
Mirabeau B. Lamar
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar was a Texas politician, diplomat and soldier who was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was the second President of the Republic of Texas, after David G. Burnet and Sam Houston.-Early years:Lamar grew up at Fairfield, his father's...
, Stephen F. Austin
Stephen F. Austin
Stephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
, Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
, Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Thomas Jefferson Rusk
Thomas Jefferson Rusk was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a U.S. politician and served as a Senator from Texas from 1846 until his suicide...
and William B. Travis
William B. Travis
William Barret Travis was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army...
. There are also bronze plaques that commemorate the Battle of the Alamo
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
and the Battle of San Jacinto
Battle of San Jacinto
The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces in a fight that lasted just eighteen...
. Outside, a statue of Robert L. Thornton
Robert L. Thornton
Robert Lee Thornton, Sr. was a Dallas, Texas businessman, philanthropist, and mayor of the city....
, benefactor of the State Fair of Texas and former Mayor of Dallas stands, overlooking the esplanade.
On the exterior frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
, the Hall of State commemorates 60 prominent historical figures in Texas' history:
- Edward BurlesonEdward BurlesonEdward Burleson was a soldier, general, and statesman in the state of Missouri, the Republic of Texas, and later the U.S. state of Texas....
- Branch Tanner ArcherBranch Tanner ArcherBranch Tanner Archer was a Texan who served as Commissioner to the United States and Speaker of the House of the Republic of Texas House of Representatives and Secretary of War of the Republic of Texas.-Early life:...
- Thomas Jefferson RuskThomas Jefferson RuskThomas Jefferson Rusk was an early political and military leader of the Republic of Texas, serving as its first Secretary of War as well as a general at the Battle of San Jacinto. He was later a U.S. politician and served as a Senator from Texas from 1846 until his suicide...
- William B. TravisWilliam B. TravisWilliam Barret Travis was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army...
- James Stephen Hogg
- Richard EllisRichard Ellis (politician)Richard Ellis was an American plantation owner, politician, and judge on the Fourth Circuit Court of Alabama. He was president of the Convention of 1836 that declared Texas' independence from Mexico, signed the Texas Declaration of Independence, and later served in the Republic of Texas...
- Mirabeau B. LamarMirabeau B. LamarMirabeau Buonaparte Lamar was a Texas politician, diplomat and soldier who was a leading Texas political figure during the Texas Republic era. He was the second President of the Republic of Texas, after David G. Burnet and Sam Houston.-Early years:Lamar grew up at Fairfield, his father's...
- Ben Milam
- David G. BurnetDavid G. BurnetDavid Gouverneur Burnet was an early politician within the Republic of Texas, serving as interim President of Texas , second Vice President of the Republic of Texas , and Secretary of State for the new state of Texas after it was annexed to the United States of America.Burnet was born in Newark,...
- John Coffee "Jack" HaysJohn Coffee HaysCol. John Coffee "Jack" Hays was a Texas Ranger captain and military officer of the Republic of Texas. Hays served in several armed conflicts, including the Indian and the Mexican-American War.-Biography:...
- Erastus Smith
- Albert Sidney JohnstonAlbert Sidney JohnstonAlbert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texas Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army...
- Stephen F. AustinStephen F. AustinStephen Fuller Austin was born in Virginia and raised in southeastern Missouri. He was known as the Father of Texas, led the second, but first legal and ultimately successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families from the United States. The capital of Texas, Austin in Travis County,...
- James BonhamJames BonhamJames Butler Bonham was a 19th-century American soldier who died at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution...
- Davy CrockettDavy CrockettDavid "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
- Sam HoustonSam HoustonSamuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
- J. Pinckney HendersonJames Pinckney HendersonJames Pinckney Henderson was a United States and Republic of Texas lawyer, politician, soldier, and the first Governor of the State of Texas....
- Oran M. RobertsOran M. RobertsOran Milo Roberts , was the 17th Governor of Texas from January 21, 1879 to January 16, 1883. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Roberts County, Texas, is named after him....
- Lorenzo de ZavalaLorenzo de ZavalaManuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Saenz was a 19th-century Mexican politician. He served as finance minister under President Vicente Guerrero. A colonizer and statesman, he was also the interim Vice President of the Republic of Texas, serving under interim President David G...
- James Bowie
- John Reagan
- Anson JonesAnson JonesAnson Jones was a doctor, businessman, congressman, the fourth and last President of the Republic of Texas, sometimes called the "Architect of Annexation."- Early life :...
- James FanninJames FanninJames Walker Fannin, Jr. was a 19th-century U.S. military figure on the Texas Army and leader during the Texas Revolution of 1835–36...
- Gail BordenGail BordenGail Borden, Jr. was a 19th century U.S. inventor, surveyor, and publisher, and was the inventor of condensed milk in 1853.- Early years :...
- William H. WhartonWilliam H. WhartonWilliam Harris Wharton was an early colonist, political leader and orator in Texas.Wharton was born in Virginia and was raised by an uncle following the deaths of his parents. He graduated from the University of Nashville and was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1826...
- Peter BellPeter Hansborough BellPeter Hansborough Bell was an American military officer and politician who served as the third Governor of Texas and represented the state for two terms in the United States House of Representatives.-Background:Bell was born March 11, 1810 in Culpeper County, Virginia...
- José Antonio NavarroJosé Antonio NavarroJosé Antonio Navarro was a Texas statesman, revolutionary, politician, and merchant. The son of Ángel Navarro and Josefa María Ruiz y Pena, he was born into a distinguished noble family at San Antonio de Béxar in New Spain....
- Elisha M. PeaseElisha M. PeaseElisha Marshall Pease was a U.S. politician from the 1830s through the 1870s. He served as the fifth and 13th Governor of Texas .A native of Enfield, Connecticut, Pease moved to Mexican Texas in 1835...
- Samuel May Williams
- Ben McCullochBenjamin McCullochBenjamin McCulloch was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a U.S. marshal, and a brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
- James W. RobinsonJames W. RobinsonJames W. Robinson was a politician in what became the U.S. states of Texas and California.-Early years:J. W. Robinson was born in what is now Hamilton County, Indiana in c. 1791. He was a lawyer and partnered with William Henry Harrison. He married Mary Isdell in 1820, but abandoned his first...
- Matthew CaldwellMathew CaldwellMathew Caldwell, , also spelled Matthew Caldwell was a 19th century Texas settler, military figure, Captain of the Gonzales - Seguin Rangers and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence...
- James Collinsworth
- John Hemphill
- George Childress
- Thomas GreenThomas Green (general)Thomas Green was a lawyer, politician, soldier and officer of the Republic of Texas, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Tom Green County, Texas was named after him....
- R.T. Wheeler
- William B. FranklinWilliam B. FranklinWilliam Buel Franklin was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army general in the American Civil War. He rose to the rank of a corps commander in the Army of the Potomac, fighting in several notable early battles in the Eastern Theater.-Early life:William B. Franklin was born in York,...
- Henry Wax KarnesHenry Wax KarnesHenry Wax Karnes was notable as a soldier and figure of the Texas Revolution, as well as the commander of General Sam Houston's "Spy Squad" at the Battle of San Jacinto....
- Moseley Baker
- Walter P. LaneWalter P. LaneWalter Paye Lane was a Confederate general during the American Civil War who also served in the armies of the Republic of Texas and the United States of America.-Early life:...
- Patrick Churchill Jack
- Francisco Vasquez de CoronadoFrancisco Vásquez de CoronadoFrancisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542...
- Alonso Alvarez de PinedaAlonso Álvarez de PinedaAlonso Álvarez de Pineda was a Spanish explorer and cartographer. His map marks the first document in Texas history.-Expedition:The Spanish thought there must be a sea lane from the Gulf of Mexico to Asia...
- Alonso de LeónAlonso De LeónAlonso de León wasexplorer and governor, who led several expeditions into the area that is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas.-Early life:...
- Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de VacaÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de VacaÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...
- Hamilton Prieleaux Bee
- William Read ScurryWilliam Read ScurryWilliam Read Scurry was a general in the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War.-Biography:...
- Memucan HuntMemucan HuntMemucan Hunt was an early American statesman and the first person to hold the position of North Carolina State Treasurer in its current form.A native of Virginia, Memucan Hunt settled in Granville County on a plantation...
- Frank JohnsonFrank W. JohnsonFrancis White "Frank" Johnson was a co-commander of the Texian Army from December 1835 through February 1836, during the Texas Revolution. Johnson arrived in Texas in 1826 and worked as a surveyor for several empresarios, including Stephen F. Austin. One of his first activities was to plot the...
- Samuel Price CarsonSamuel Price CarsonSamuel Price Carson was an American political leader and farmer in both North Carolina and Texas. He served as Congressional Representative from North Carolina...
- Sidney ShermanSidney ShermanSidney Sherman was a Texan general and a key leader in the Texas Army during the Texas Revolution and afterwards.-Early life:...
- Abner Smith LipscombAbner Smith LipscombAbner Smith Lipscomb was an American and Texan lawyer and judge. He was also appointed Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas under the administration of President Mirabeau B. Lamar.Lipscomb studied law in the office of John C. Calhoun and passed the bar in 1810...
- George Washington HockleyGeorge Washington HockleyGeorge Washington Hockley was a Texas revolutionary who served as Secretary of War for the Republic of Texas.Hockley was a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
- Henry Weidner Baylor
- Robert McAlpin WilliamsonRobert McAlpin WilliamsonRobert McAlpin Williamson was a Republic of Texas Supreme Court Justice, state lawmaker and Texas Ranger. Williamson County, Texas is named for him.-Early life:...
- Menefee (either William Menefee or John Menefee)
- Thomas Jefferson Chambers
- Isaac Van ZandtIsaac Van ZandtIsaac Van Zandt was a political leader in the Republic of Texas. Van Zandt County, Texas, was named in his honor....
- Thomas S. Lubbock