Mike Hazel has made
“As a native of
Reared in
Hazel returned to
“Once I found
He dedicated the better part of the next three decades to advancing public interest in our city’s past, and he points to other
“Cities like
Hazel thinks most Dallasites don’t realize how much history we have here in our own back yard.
“I think the average person in
Hazel notes that photographs, for example, “are a wonderful record of what the city used to be.” It’s because of this that he recently helped compile some of these photographs into a new book titled “Historic Photos of Dallas,” a collection of pictures dating back to the 1850s and ending with the 1960s.
The Turner Publishing Co. was actually working on a series of books, profiling several cities, when it took an interest in
Hazel says most of the photographs selected for the book depict places that no longer exist — like our city’s first luxury hotel, the Oriental Hotel, which sat at the corner of Commerce and Akard streets downtown. The hotel was avant-garde for its day in 1893, boasting electricity and elevators. The book also includes photographs of the Carnegie Library, a public library built here in 1901 by Andrew Carnegie, the same man responsible for the famous Carnegie Hall in
Hazel’s primary role in producing the book was to write captions for each photograph and introductions for each chapter. Before he could begin writing, however, he had to research every photo. Some of the pictures were well archived by the Dallas Public Library or the Dallas Historical Society, and many were even flagged with historical information. But other photos required hefty investigation.
“Many of them did not have much information, but maybe there was a clue in the photograph, like a street sign or shop sign to research. It was a bit of detective work,” Hazel says.
But this type of research was nothing new to him. After serving as the Dallas Historical Society’s deputy director from 1988 to 1992, Hazel has stayed involved with local history as an editor for “Legacies,” a regional history journal published bi-annually by four local historical organizations, and a big part of that gig involves photo research.
This also wasn’t his first experience with publishing. Hazel has written and edited several books about our city, including “Dallas Reconsidered,” “
He’s also dedicated a good chunk of his life to educating the next generation of Dallasites about our city’s history. For five years, Hazel taught
But Hazel also has worked to raise historical awareness outside the classroom. He’s spent the past eight years spearheading a community movement to get residents involved in preserving our history. Hazel started the Dallas History Conference, which is co-sponsored by 12 local history groups, after he was inspired by an annual historical conference held in
“I think it (the conference) has really introduced people to
Darwin Payne is a longtime friend and colleague of Hazel’s, and the two have collaborated on several projects, including “Dynamic Dallas.”
“Interest in
Today, Hazel is a member of the Dallas Historical Society’s collections committee and is an honorary member of the board of trustees for the
“Many other local historians still have to have some sort of full-time job, but I have been able to make a career out of just
Ultimately, Hazel says he hopes his advocacy for
"
Hazel’s History List
Asked about
1. Ira P. DeLoache, one of the early developers of Preston Hollow,
originally came to
2. Early
3) In 1890,
4) In 1938, architect George Dahl designed the first drive-through bank
window in the world for the Hillcrest State Bank in University Park, across from SMU.
5) Begun by developers Edgar Flippen and Hugh Prather in 1931, Highland Park Village was the first planned shopping center in the nation with a unified architectural style and stores facing interior parking