Fourteen years ago I decided to move from Tyler, Texas to the Dallas area. I had been in East Texas for over 30 years and always wanted to live in the big city. I even had a girlfriend who already lived there. While researching suburbs, I discovered Addison. It was small — only 15,000 residents, but it was only a 30-minute drive from D/FW or Love Field airports and the same distance from downtown. Seemed perfect for me — a friendly, small town with all the benefits a metropolis has to offer. Plus the big draw was the city-owned athletic club with ONLY a ONE-TIME $10 fee for residents!
I have never regretted my move and before the pandemic, was at the athletic club almost every day. It also has wonderful seniors’ programs which I still participate in. Have done Pictionary and bingo by Zoom. Addison also has one of the top fireworks shows in the nation, a big Oktoberfest celebration and a free — for residents — annual holiday brunch with strolling carolers and photos with Santa and Mrs.Claus.
History
According to Wikipedia and History of Addison and Historical Photos at addisontx.net, the land occupied by the current Town of Addison is in an area once called Peters Colony. It was settled as early as 1846 when Preston Witt built a house near White Rock Creek. Preston Witt was one of the first recorded settlers in the Addison area. Trinity Mills Road in north Carrollton is named after the successful mill he operated with his brother Wade Witt and their brother-in-law A.W. Perry.
The area was not known as Addison until 1902. Addison was named after Addison Robertson, who served as the community’s second postmaster from 1908-1916. Civic-minded even at the age of seventy-nine, Addison also served as an undercover Secret Service agent during World War I and helped with the capture of rebels in Wichita Falls who were smuggling guns and planning to overthrow the government. In 1902, the first industry was introduced to Addison when a cotton gin was built on Addison Road, near the railroad, by the Pistole brothers. It became the Plano Cotton Oil Mill in 1904 and the Farmers Gin of Addison in 1919.
The Town of Addison was originally named Noell Junction in honor of Sidney Smith Noell; however, when a post office was authorized, it was discovered there was already a post office designated as Noel in another part of Texas. The town was then renamed for local carpenter and second postmaster Addison Robertson.
S.S. Noell was a charter member of the Addison Methodist Church and gave land in order to get the Cotton Belt Railroad to build a rail line to Dallas through Addison.
S.S. Noell and wife Nannie first lived on a farm in the Love Field area, eventually purchasing a farm several miles north on the east side of Marsh Lane and north of Spring Valley Road. This homeplace was referred to as the Spring Farm and was located near present-day Loos Stadium. As legend has it, a group of cattle drivers were crossing this area after a cattle drive, carrying with them money from the sale of their cattle, when they were chased by robbers and forced to bury the gold. Years later, many people — including Noell — dug on his land looking for the gold until he abruptly put an end to it. Coincidentally, soon after, he purchased 1,200 acres that stretch south of Belt Line Road from Midway Road to Preston Road, and the family relocated.
Nannie Lively married S.S. Noell in 1882. Nannie raised eight children. All of the Noell children attended school, mostly in the one-room school called Heads and Tails, but they all helped with the farm chores.
Noel Road and Knoll Trail are named after S.S. Noell.
Tarpley family top row, left to right: Mamie, Laura, James Franklin, Willie May, Zollie Scott, Pearl and Flemmie. Seated, left to right: John A., standing on his left, Tennyson (Mamie’s son), Vassie Leroy, Andrew Taylor, Mary Jane holding one-month-old Edgar Taylor, Harrie Lillian and DeArville.
According to dallasgateway.com, it was unusual that a black cotton farmer located in Dallas County, Texas during the late 1800s and early 1900s could be a successful cotton farmer, a member of the Masonic Order and have a street named in his honor. Taylor A. Tarpley was born in Dallas County, Texas in 1865. His father, Andrew Tarpley was from Missouri and his mother, Ann Turner was from Greenfield, Missouri. Mr. Tarpley’s death certificate states that he died on October 19, 1938 which was a minor miracle since Dallas Hospital was not accepting “colored” patients back during this time. St. Paul’s was the first Dallas hospital that allowed black physicians to practice medicine in a public facility.
Taylor Tarpley married Mary J. Turner (1866-1937) and they bought 108 acres at Addison, Texas which was roughly bounded by Marsh Lane, Keller Springs Road and Tarpley Road. With help from the entire family, he became a successful farmer and was recognized as one of the biggest cotton farmers in the Addison, Farmers Branch and Webb Chapel area.
According to their headstone, he was a member of the Masonic Lodge, and she was a member of the Order of Eastern Star.
According to Georgia Smith’s Nov. 15, 2013 article “Almost a Century Later, a Look at the Addison School Building” in Addison magazine, In 1914, the Addison School building was constructed to accommodate the town’s thriving population, and it still stands almost 100 years later off Belt Line Road as the Magic Time Machine Restaurant, which hosts an annual spring Addison School alumni luncheon.
Since its inception, the Addison School building has hosted a number of community organizations, such as the Home Demonstration Club and various Addison churches. Intended as an instructional resource for Addison homemakers, demonstration activities included mattress-making, first aid, sewing, canning, tailoring and pruning fruit-bearing trees.
Both the Addison Baptist and Methodist churches also used the Addison School building to hold services before the churches were built. The building itself is tiny, consisting of three downstairs classrooms with an auditorium on the second floor. There was no indoor plumbing, and the building was heated by one coal burning stove.
Initially a county school, Addison School served the children of local farmers. Children walked to school, although a bus service was later offered. It was not uncommon to see Model T cars parked outside the school along with horses that were hitched to posts. Robert L. McCallum graduated from Addison School in 1958, before the industrial growth of the 1970s. He eventually went on to SMU Law School, but he still fondly recalls his boyhood days as a student in Addison.
“It was fun,” McCallum says. “My father had several hundred acres, and it kept me from having to work on the farm. We had a baseball team and a 4H club. It was a very enjoyable time. Ms. Goodman was the principal out there. She was a nice principal, a very nice lady, and she cared about the kids.”
Lucile Goodman, wife of C.V. Goodman and cousin of President Harry S. Truman, was a lifelong resident of Dallas County and a fixture in its educational systems. She taught at Addison School from 1921 to 1954, served as principal from 1935 to 1954, and retired from Garland Independent School District in 1960. In 1996, she was selected by the Addison City Council as the Woman of the Year.
When the Goodmans came to teach at the little school in 1921, C.V. served as high school teacher, basketball coach and principal while Lucile taught elementary school. When C.V. left teaching to open the Noell-Goodman Drug Store, Lucille’s sister Adda Summer served as principal until 1935 when she passed the torch to Lucille. The school remained county-controlled until 1954, when the county voted to make Addison School part of Dallas Independent School District. The school closed its doors in 1964 due to low enrollment.
According to Wikipedia, the City of Addison was incorporated on June 15, 1953, under an aldermanic form of government and was changed to the “Town of Addison” in 1982. Addison’s first Mayor was M.W. Morris and the aldermen were Guy Dennis, Robert W. Wood, J.E. Julian, Jr., Dr. H.T. Nesbit, and Seldon Knowles.
In 1975, an election to allow liquor by the drink served in town was a major contributor to the expansion of businesses and restaurants. All combined, Addison’s restaurants and eating establishments can seat over 20,000 patrons at one time.
In 1978, the Town of Addison constructed its first town park, and by 1980 an aggressive beautification program was underway. Today, Addison’s 118 acres of parks are some of the finest in Texas, each uniquely themed and beautifully landscaped.
According to "History of Blueprints" at addisontx.net, Michael Van Valkenburgh and Mel Chin created the “Blueprints” sculpture in Addison Circle Park, Addison's first piece of public art. "Our vision is one of actual blueprints unfurling a city blooming like a plant," recalls Chin. "Each petal has its own personality, with a rich trace of history as well."
Michael Van Valkenburgh said, "The haunting beauty of the blueprints traceries transcend the fact that they are individual pieces of common things. Mel and I believe it will feel like a set of instructions for making something."
The five petals of "Blueprints” contain detailed drawings from the blueprints used to build many of the city's buildings and parks. The elements include a fountain, a sun dial, a bench, a bridge railing; plans of the Addison Conference and Theatre Centre; patent drawings for cotton gin equipment; the original plat of Addison; a pump station; and the spa at the Addison Athletic Club.
It took 18,000 hours of cutting, shaping and welding almost 410,000 pounds of steel and spraying 650 gallons of custom-mixed "Sharpie Blue" paint on the 25 poles and five art panels.
On April 13, 2000, the town held a great party to celebrate and dedicate "Blueprints." Over 700 residents and friends helped celebrate the final result of over four years of hard work by hundreds of architects, engineers, artists and craftsmen.
Lifestyle
According to Wikipedia, because of Addison's overwhelmingly commercial atmosphere, residents of Addison enjoy a unique lifestyle not common in other suburbs.
Residents and visitors can enjoy many Addison attractions. There are special events in Addison 22 weekends of the year. The WaterTower Theatre produces plays and musicals and hosts the annual Out of the Loop Festival. The Cavanaugh Flight Museum houses a collection of aircraft since World War I. Addison Circle Park, built in the early 2000s, is a venue for several seasonal outdoor events, such as "Addison Kaboom Town!," "Addison Oktoberfest" and the foodie fun event, "Taste of Addison." The Addison Improv Comedy Club hosts regular weekly shows with well-known headliners.
Addison is noted for being home to the original locations of both Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chão, two Brazilian churrascaria franchises that are both in the midst of rapid national expansion.
During the Vitruvian Lights from late November through December, sparkling LED lights are wrapped around 550 trees throughout 19 acres that meander along the spring-fed creek of Vitruvian Park.
Best write-up of Addison ever! In the early 70's, coyotes were routinely spotted around Addison School and the airport, which was about all that existed along Belt Line Road at that time.