Preservation Dallas Takes You Inside The Dallas Morning News’ Rock of Truth May 21

Most of us realize what a terrific resource Preservation Dallas is to our city. What you may not realize, however, is that membership has its perks. One of those perks is next week’s InTown Outing to the former Dallas Morning News building at 508 Young Street.

The newspaper was founded on Oct. 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo. In 1926, its publisher, George Bannerman Dealey, bought a majority interest. Over the years, the paper has continued to have one of the largest paid circulations in America. It has been awarded nine Pulitzer Prizes for reporting and photography, multiple George Polk Awards, and an Overseas Press Club award for photography.

This building was home to The Dallas Morning News for nearly six decades. Preservation Dallas members will have the extraordinary experience of touring it and hearing not only about its history but also about future plans.

Build The News Upon The Rock of Truth

Designed for Dallas’ oldest continuing newspaper, this stately five-story building of granite and sandstone originally housed state of the art 650-ton presses that were nearly three stories tall. Built in 1949, George Dahl designed a building that perfectly expressed the forward-thinking ideas of George Bannerman Dealey, civic leader and the newspaper’s early publisher. Etched in granite on the front elevation is Dealey’s call for journalists to “Build the news upon the rock of truth…” Dahl’s elegant yet solid design echoes that. Our hosts, Matthews Southwest and Robert Dechard, will tell us about the iconic building’s past, present and future as we tour inside.

Preservation Dallas

CandysDirt.com Executive Editor Joanna England worked at this building right after she graduated from Texas A&M University. She would take the bus or train downtown and walk through the front doors each day.

“Being fresh out of college and walking in every day and having that quote loom over is a reminder that what you do is important,” she said. “It’s hard to get jaded when you see that each day.”

The Fourth Estate

The news is a heady business and never to be taken lightly. There is a reason it’s known as the Fourth Estate.

Edmund Burke was the first to coin that term in 1787 in the British Parliament. He said there were Three Estates in Parliament but the Reporters’ Gallery was the Fourth Estate, and the most important of all. Americans adopted the concept with our three branches of government and the press keeping them in check, so indeed, the most important estate.

It wasn’t just the reporters and photographers racing through those doors to report the joys and tragedies each day. Dignitaries and politicians crossed the threshold hoping to have a word with opinion columnists, editors, and the publisher because the press is and continues to be powerful. Walking the halls of this building is bound to give you a few goosebumps.

One of the most popular programs at Preservation Dallas is our InTown Outings. We started the tours in 1995 as a way for our members to get special insight into the incredible variety of historic buildings in Dallas, including houses, churches, commercial buildings, industrial buildings, and civic buildings. Tour attendees get a behind-the-scenes look and hear about the building’s history and its preservation or rehabilitation from property owners, architects, or developers. The great part is that we see different stages of projects from before work, during construction, or after completion. It is a fun way to see the diverse historic architecture we have in Dallas.

David Preziosi
Executive Director, Preservation Dallas

If you are not yet a member of Preservation Dallas, you see what you are missing. It’s easy to solve that and still get in on the fun. Here’s a link to join.