We Explored the Old City Park Estate Sale and Here’s the Scoop

There are estate sales and there are Estate Sales. The old Dallas Morning News building, Bill’s Records and Tapes — those are iconic sales. Add this controversial sale at Dallas’ beleaguered Old City Park to the list of must-see estate sales in North Texas.

Now through Saturday, the park is hosting a massive estate sale to whittle down the 22,000 artifacts it has collected over the years. Hundreds of pieces have already been donated to various nonprofit organizations across the city including Preservation Dallas, Preservation Texas, and the city’s archives. And the rest, lucky for you, are for sale 25 percent off.

Old City Park Estate Sale Details

When: Today through Saturday, May 4. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Old City Park at 1515 S. Harwood St.

What’s for Sale: Thousands of antiques large and small. Everything from large turn of the century armoires to adorable antique baby bonnets ($12 or less).

Payment: They accept cash, check, and credit cards, but using a card will cost you a 3 percent fee.

Parking: Once you pull into the main entrance gate, follow the yellow estate sale signs to the parking areas on your left. There are a few handicap spaces there, and if you need to drop someone off closer to the actual park’s entry, you can do that by the Vogel building.

Pricing: The sale began on Monday, April 29 and continues through Saturday, May 4th. It will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Thursday May 2, prices will be marked down 25 percent. On Friday and Saturday, everything will be marked down 50 percent.

And here’s a tip: for higher priced items, I heard the sale bosses considering offers. Now, considering these are preservation experts, and they know what they have, there are some bargains to be found.

Most importantly, wear comfortable shoes because Old City Park is a big place and those primitive brick pavers aren’t doing your feet any favors. The sale is split up into several buildings on site, including a non-descript brick warehouse, a historic home, two stores on the park’s “central business district” so to speak, and the large pavilion.

What to Look Out For

Here you’ll find rows of antique everyday ware like china sets, glassware, tools, antique books, furniture, and antique linens and quilts. There’s a whole floor of wooden chairs including some rockers, a few wooden wheelchairs, and a couple of wooden baby carriages and bassinettes remaining.

There are remnants of the old doctor’s office and pharmacy for sale, including these relics I found. None of them contain cocaine. I checked. Incidentally, according to an old 1909 medical journal, the oxalate cerium shown below “held a conspicuous position in our pharmacopeia” for the relief of vomiting. You might already recognize the bismuth subcarbonate as the partial makings of Pepto Bismol.

But Is Old City Park Closing?

No. We were pretty sure of that after speaking to Dallas County Preservation Society CEO Michael Meadows on Dallas Dirt recently, but overhearing conversations today at the estate sale made it sound like the park was no more. We checked with park board member Rudy Karimi, who said Old City Park is designated park land so it’s still open and no one’s sold the park to anyone. And as he told us on Dallas Dirt as well, no one’s selling off Old City Park to become apartment buildings, contrary to social media rumor.

While the park is definitely not closing right now, the city’s living history museum will change ownership to the Dallas Parks and Recreation department to become more of a historical park village. Tune into this episode to hear more:

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P.S. What Did I Buy?

Minding the Store by Stanley Marcus. It’s a third printing that was signed and inscribed later to Mr. Manning B. Shannon in 1993.

But tucked inside the pages were two typewritten and signed letters on Neiman Marcus letterhead. One to Mr. Shannon Sr. in July 1972 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his father’s death. The second one was written in August 1972 thanking a gracious host for throwing Mr. Shannon a marvelous birthday celebration. The party hosts were Mr. and Mrs. John M. Stemmons. I paid $5.