Preston Hollow was a bucolic town of its own until 1945, when it was annexed into the City of Dallas.
It was so peaceful that residents were appalled when Lobello’s opened at Northwest Highway and Preston Road. The drive-in’s neon signs, megaphone music and well-lit tower upset residents so much that they petitioned the Town Council of Preston Hollow to limit the raucous.
The council opted to appease neighbors and banned businesses from using loud speakers for radio or music. “Spieling or loud talking” in public places was strictly prohibited, along with selling alcohol and dance halls.
Lobello’s wasn’t the only business that aggravated residents. Fifteen citizens of Preston Hollow sued a drive-in theater in 1944 for “damages to their property as result of the noise from the drive-in show,” according to the Dallas Morning News that year.
“The show is not in a building and the fence built around it is not made to confine sound but to keep out persons who do not pay the price of admission,” the petition stated.
Thankfully, Preston Hollow now is not nearly as uptight as days gone by.
