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Guide No. 167:

Earl Hart Family-White Rock Lake Collection, 1926 - 1948

Overview of the Collection

Repository:

Dallas Municipal Archives
Office of the City Secretary
1500 Marilla Street, 5D South
Dallas, Texas 75201

Creator: Hart, Earl; Hart, Mary Jane; Vassilaros, Patricia Wray
Title: Earl Hart Family-White Rock Lake Collection
Dates: 1926 -1948
Quantity: 2 linear inches
Abstract: Correspondence, business records, newspaper clippings, and ephemera concerning the Earl Hart Family of Dallas, Texas
Identification: 08-002
Language: Records are in English

Scope and Contents

Collection documents the life and career of Earl R. Hart, superintendent of White Rock Lake 1933 -1943; his wife, Mary Jane Hart; their children; and White Rock Lake. Hart was superintendent during the Lake's greatest period of development, when the Civilian Conservation Corps completed extensive landscaping and building projects between 1937 and 1941. Hart also served as the lake's park police and the family lived in the caretaker's residence at the lake. Upon Earl Hart's death in 1943, his widow operated the park's Sunset Inn concession and cafe until financial hardship forced its closure in 1948.

The images in this collection include Hart Family photographs, mostly taken at White Rock, revealing many details about the lake prior to the 1950s. Textual materials include records of Earl and Mary Jane Hart, biographical and genealogical information on the Hart Family, personal recollections of daughters Jackie Hart and Lillian Hart Wray, and newspaper clippings regarding White Rock Lake. Ephemera includes menus for the Sunset Inn.

Collection donated by Pat Wray Vassilaros and descendants of the Earl Hart Family.

 

Index Terms

Dallas -- Texas -- History
Parks -- Texas -- History
Hart, Earl Richard
Hart, Mary Jane McClure
Hart Family (Dallas, Tex.)

 

Detailed Description of the Collection

Box Folder
Title, Date
1 1 Earl R. Hart correspondence and work credentials, 1939 -1943
  2 Hart Family biographical and genealogical data, 1929, 1943, and undated
  3 Sunset Inn records, 1944 -1948
  4 Photographs, 1926 - 1944 and undated
  5 Newspaper clippings, 1941