Editing Highland Park, Texas (section)

==History==

[[File:Exall Lake, Dallas, Texas.jpg|thumb|left|Exall Lake, Dallas, Texas (postcard, c. 1901–1907)]] The land now known as Highland Park was bought in 1889 by a group of investors from [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, known as the Philadelphia Place Land Association, for an average price of $377 an acre, with a total of $500,000. Henry Exall, an agent, intended to develop the land along [[Turtle Creek (Dallas County, Texas)|Turtle Creek]] as "Philadelphia Place", exclusive housing based on parkland areas in Philadelphia. He laid gravel roads, and dammed Turtle Creek, forming Exall Lake, before the [[Panic of 1893]] brought a blow to his fortunes, halting development. In the 1890s, Exall Lake was a common picnic destination for Dallas residents.<ref name= "tsha"/><ref name=":ParkCities">{{Cite book|title=The Park Cities: A Walker's Guide & Brief History|last=Galloway|first=Diane|publisher=Southern Methodist University Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87074-276-0|location=Dallas}}</ref>

In 1906, [[John S. Armstrong]] (the former partner of [[Thomas Marsalis]], the developer of [[Oak Cliff]]), sold his [[meatpacking]] business and invested his money in a portion of the former Philadelphia Place land, to develop it under the name of "Highland Park", choosing this name as it was located on high land that overlooked downtown Dallas. [[Wilbur David Cook]], the landscape designer who had planned [[Beverly Hills, California]], and [[George E. Kessler]], who had previously planned [[Fair Park]] and most of [[downtown Dallas]], were hired to design its layout in 1907. Notably, twenty percent of the original land was set aside for parks. When Armstrong died in 1908, his widow and sons-in-law—Edgar Flippen and Hugh Prather continued his work, and Armstrong is considered one of the main founders of Highland Park. A second development in Highland Park was developed in 1910.<ref name= "tsha"/><ref name=":ParkCities"/>

In 1913, Highland Park petitioned Dallas for [[annexation]], but was refused. The 500 Highland Park residents voted to incorporate on November 29, 1913, and [[municipal corporation|incorporation]] was granted in 1915, when its population was 1,100. The first mayor of Highland Park was W. A. Fraser. A third and fourth development were added to the town in 1915 and 1917, respectively. In 1919, the city of Dallas sought to annex Highland Park, beginning a lengthy controversy that lasted until 1945. J. W. Bartholow and William Chloupek 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.<ref name= "tsha"/>

Because of its location near Dallas, Highland Park had, by the early 1930s, developed a moderately large (8,400) population, with a few businesses. Eventually the school districts and newspapers of Highland Park and University Park were combined. In the 1940s, 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 afterwards grew only by building houses on the remaining vacant lots, and by the destruction of old buildings. Since 1990, Highland Park has maintained strict [[zoning]] ordinances.<ref name=":ParkCities"/>