Photography by Danny Fulgencio

A delightful Advocate story by Jeff Siegel in 2002 gives us a glimpse of what life was like in Preston Hollow before development. Among the historical insights:

  • Northwest Highway: It was so remote that early residents, according to an informal history of the area in the Dallas Public Library’s Dallas collection, may have hunted buffalo there, Siegel wrote.
  • Northwest Highway and Preston Road in the 1930’s“It was great,” says Jimmy DeLoache. “All my friends wanted to come over from East Dallas and play. We could hunt, fish, ride horses, play in a hay loft, all that stuff. When my mother wanted quail’s eggs for breakfast, she’d say, ‘Jimmy, go get me some quail eggs,’ and I’d go out to the yard and gather them. I had a 56-acre backyard.”

Meanwhile, in the 1930’s an Italian count named Pio Crespi was building an ostentatious estate near what is now Walnut Hill and the Tollway.

Tell us your memories of Preston Hollow back in the day: lkresl@advocatemag.com.