Town Incorporation

Town Incorporation

Highland Park’s 500 residents voted to incorporate on November 29, 1913. A third and a fourth development were added to the town west of Preston Road in 1915 and 1917. In 1919, the City of Dallas sought to annex Highland Park, beginning a lengthy controversy that lasted until 1945. J. W. Bartholow led the fight to resist the annexation. The final major land development occurred in 1924. In 1931, Highland Park Village was constructed, the first shopping center of its kind in the United States.

The Town Council authorized the purchase of a fire engine and the construction of a fire house after the 1913 incorporation. The Town Hall was built in 1924. A municipal library and an art gallery were added in 1930. As time passed, the art gallery was repurposed as the Town Council chamber and a portion of the library. In 2003, a portion of the public safety building was razed, and a new facility was built in its place. In 2008, the library underwent major renovations, which were fully funded by the generous donations of the town’s residents. Over the years, the Town Hall received several renovations, the most significant of which being completed in 2014, with the razing of a substantial area of the building and major renovations to the remaining areas.

After the failure to annex Highland Park, Dallas began annexing the land surrounding it. Reaching a population high of just under 13,000 in the late 1950s, Highland Park afterward grew only by building houses on the remaining vacant lots.