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I had few hours to waste in Downtown between appointments. I spent some time wondering around Pioneer Park and Cemetery in Dallas, Texas. It was to busy and bright for me to get any better shots. I’ll be back.
The park was established in 1849 and at the time located on the outskirts of town. Today the Plaza commemorates Dallas’ beginnings by celebrating the trails that brought settlers to Dallas. The site features native plants and trees and a flowing stream in a natural setting and a re-creation of a cattle drive in bronze with longhorn steers being driven by three cowboys on horses.
Pioneer Plaza at Pioneer Park
The Texas Trees Foundation dedicated Pioneer Plaza to Dallas, Texas in 1994 and is a historical focal point for the city. Pioneer Plaza is the largest public open space in the central business district. It is the second most visited landmark in downtown Dallas. The most popular landmark in the downtown area is Dealey Plaza, the site of the Kennedy Assassination.
Pioneer Plaza was originally a 4.2 acre parking. The land was donated by the city for the project. $4.8 million in private funds were raised by donations from individuals and local businesses. In 1992 plaza was designed along with construction starting later that year.
The bronze sculptures were created by artist Robert Summers of Glen Rose, Texas with the sculptures being cast at the Eagle Bronze Foundry in Lander, Wyoming. The plaza honors the nineteenth century cattle drives that took place along the Shawnee Trail. The trail was also known as the Texas Road and is the earliest and easternmost route Texas longhorn cattle were driven north to railheads. This trail passed through Austin, Waco, and Dallas. But was eventually replaced by the Chisolm trail in 1867.
The main Installation includes 3 cowboys on horses, and 49 longhorns that are all larger than life. To give it a more realistic feel, they included native plants and trees and a flowing stream.
In 1996 the maintenance responsibility was transferred to the Dallas Convention Center. Recently several of the status were removed for restoration and repairs.
My Experience
This a great piece of art and its impressive to stand next to the oversized longhorns and see them going down the hill and crossing over the man-made river. All with views of the downtown area. It also a lot of fund just wandering around them and seeing each one is different.
Pioneer Cemetery
Locals often forget and those visiting the area don’t realize this historic piece of land dates back a 150+ years when Dallas was just a small North Texas Town. Back then the cemetery was placed on a hill that had an impressive view of both the Trinity River and Downtown Dallas. Today the cemetery has lost the view the river. Its surrounded by the ever expanding downtown area. Its tucked away and if you aren’t paying attention as you are driving by, you might just miss the cemetery.
Officially the cemetery was created by the Masons and Odd Fellows Fraternal organizations working together to get the cemetery designation in 1857. However historians believe that two young children were first buried there sometime between 1846 and 1849.
The cemeteries includes four separate cemeteries: the Masonic Cemetery, the Odd Fellow’s Cemetery, the Jewish Cemetery, and the City Cemetery. There has not been a burial at this site since 1921.
“Dallas Pioneer Park Cemetery is the final resting place of six Dallas Mayors, three War of 1812 Veterans, nine heroes of the Texas Revolution, twenty-nine (one Union & twenty-eight Confederate) Civil War Veterans, fourteen Peters Colonists, five members of the La Reunion French Colony, four Colonels of the Confederacy, two County Judges, two District Judges, two notable historical women, one State Senator, one Lieutenant Governor & numerous other city & county officials of the earliest governments of Dallas County, including early doctors, lawyers, clergymen, merchants, fallen law enforcement officers & firemen, engineers, business leaders, mothers & children. The epitaphs & artwork of the monuments honoring loved ones long gone meant something to those left behind. The markers that have withstood the years, elements & vandals remain as a tangible link to Dallas’ past.” – “Here Lies Dallas History”
My Experience
I wondered around the cemetery for about 20 minutes and found a ton of history. I realized very quickly there were a ton of notable Texans buried there. Many of them have cities, streets, and buildings named after them. A lot of the headstones and memorial statues are works of art in their own right.
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About the Pioneer Park and Cemetery in Dallas, Texas Images
I visited the park on warm sunny day. It was bright and not very many clouds in the sky. Not a good recipe for impressive pictures. There were also a lot visitors and I couldn’t spend much time there waiting for them to exit the area. I do plan to revisit later this year. Pictures were taken with my Sony a6000 and my Sony SELP18105G E PZ 18-105mm F4 G OSS lens. The images was then edited with Adobe Lightroom CC and Topaz Labs A.I. Clear and Topaz Labs Denoise AI and Topaz Labs Sharpen AI and DXO NIK Collection
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