It’s difficult to imagine that our neighborhood wasn’t always packed with hectic shopping centers and luxury homes. Before celebrities congregated in Preston Hollow, it was a 2-square-mile town with dirt roads and few businesses.

The neighborhood’s history is well-documented, thanks to longtime resident Eva Potter Morgan, who published the book “Preston Hollow” in 2001. While the book chronicles Preston Hollow’s inception, it also highlights historical trivia.

So, without further adieu, here are three little-known facts about the neighborhood:

1.) In 1844, a Mississippi native named John Howell trekked to Texas and acquired 546 acres of land. A portion of his property eventually became Preston Hollow.

2.) A Preston Hollow neighbor invented the car tray used at drive-in restaurants.

3.) Lobello’s Drive-In Restaurant — the subject of constant scrutiny from Preston Hollow residents — had “saw dust on the floor and school desks to eat on,” Potter Morgan  writes. The Northwest Highway eatery closed in the mid-1960s.