Garland's Moving The Furniture Around

At the new location when placed on foundation

It's still a very historic building regardless where it now sits.

A recent trip to Garland to an antique dealer found the unexpected. The old railroad station and train Pullman car that had been a historic landmark and the two turn-of-the-century gingerbread houses were gone from their original location.  The land had been cleared and leveled. Obviously, the buildings had been moved and I set out to find the new locations. It didn't take long to find the rail station and Pullman car. They had been moved a few blocks north and west next to the Dart station where the old DGNO (the local short line) had its engineers and crews office on Walnut Street.

The Dart station was the northern end of blue line but now is extended into downtown Rowlett. So the exposure of the old rail station will be a good asset in their new location. Finding the old houses was a bit of a letdown because I never did find where the houses had been moved. That will have to wait until a later time. Perhaps, a good warm winter day or early spring shoot.

It appears that Garland is doing the same as downtown Plano did after the red line came to Collin Country. That downtown Plano project was such a success that a second wave of growth is underway. Downtown Garland is moving these  properties at the right time and it will only add to the overall growth of the Metroplex. I'm always glad to see well planned furniture moves cities make to improve the overall scheme of things. At the same time, I am a historian-at-heart and do not like to see historic buildings demolished or relocated for the most part. On rare situations, it becomes history within itself if done right. Garland seems to be on the right track (pardon the pun).

When you stop to think about it, Dart from downtown Dallas now goes to downtown Garland and Rowlett, downtown Plano, downtown Carrollton on the green line, and with the addition of the "A" train, downtown Denton in Denton County. With the orange lines, and connections to the TRE, downtown Irving  and downtown Ft. Worth, or staying on the orange line and DFW terminal A is just a year away. While Las Colinas is available now.

The amount of distance that can be covered with Dart from downtown Dallas is astonishing when you think about it. Sometimes, moving the furniture around makes for an expanded living area. And like a furniture move in the house, sometimes, you trip on the relocated furniture, but eventually get used to the rearrangement. Anyone visiting Dallas and can't find anything to do, isn't looking very hard.