Typical examples of building and landscaping which is transforming the new residential divisions in the vicinity of White Rock lake: (click on images for enlarged view)

A beautiful vista of the lake, looking westward from the wooded heights of Forest Hills, 400-acre addition on the far side of the lake.

Two pretentious homes [per Debby Lacy, from left to right: 7048 and 7044 Tokalon] being built on Tokalon drive, Monticello, by Boyd Keith for himself and for his father. David Williams is the architect.

Three homes [per Debby Lacy, from left to right: 6444, 6430 & 6434 Lakewood] on Lakewood boulevard, Country Club Estates, being built by J. J. King, contractor, for H. H. Nichols.

A scene that promises to be one of the beauty spots of new East Dallas. The photograph shows a natural basin on Lakewood boulevard, which Albert Dines, owner of Westlake Park addition is converting into a sunken garden.

Two homes being constructed on the newly paved Westlake avenue by M. N. McKinney.

     When the late John H. Daniel walked to Dallas behind an ox-cart from St. Jo, Mo., 1,500 weary, dusty miles or more, back in 1851, he wasn't looking for up-to-date metropolitan conveniences and comforts.
     He was satisfied with a few acres of fertile Texas land overlooking the valley of White Rock creek -- a good day's trip by wagon from the village of Dallas and all that then represented urban luxury. Deer and rabbits were plentiful in the wooded bottoms; the food crops were abundant and that was enough for the 20-year-old pioneer who had "gone West" on foot to make his fortune.
     But, if John H. Daniel could return today to the hills he once plowed and cultivated, he would rub his eyes and marvel.
     The little creek on which he watered his stock and cut fence rails has long since been dammed and converted into a beautiful lake. The corn fields that first felt the point of his plow are landscaped in flowers, lawns and shrubs and the dusty lane, over which he occasionally drove to Dallas, is a paved boulevard. Palatial mansions dot the hillsides where once he roamed with ax and rifle and the solitude of his primeval woodlands is broken by the clatter of carpenters' saws and hammers. Dapper real estate salesmen are selling city lots in the clearings where he once bundled grain and roaring steam [shovels] are biting chunks out of his cotton patch for a street car line extension.
     Dallas has grown to, and beyond, White Rock. The magic wand of urban expansion, almost overnight, has transformed the cotton patches and brier thickets between the city limits of East Dallas and the lake, into an interlocking mosaic of residential additions, the development of which is hitherto unmatched in the history of the Southwest.

$7,000,000 Spent.
     In less than two years, an even dozen exclusive districts have been cut out of prairie, paved, lighted and otherwise improved and offered to home builders who apparently have lost no time in adorning them with mansions of brick, tile and stone. This brief period of time has seen the expenditure of nearly $7,000,000 in improvements and construction, while the development in sight for the district exceeds that figure by many times. Paving totaling eighteen miles has been laid. The sidewalks and curbs approximate forty miles, while the longest sewer line ever built in this part of the country was constructed to serve home builders.
     The reason for this lavish investment of money is apparent long before one reaches it.

Whiterock Lake.
     The big expanse of water, just four and one-half miles east of the city, which is destined soon to become the most attractive pleasure resort in the Southwest, has become a real estate magnet, to which home builders of wealth and imagination are attracted like bees to honey. The same desire for scenic beauty and recreational pleasures which were responsible for the residential development of Long Island, in New York, and Long Beach, in California, is making the White Rock district one of the residential show places of the Southwest, real estate men declare.

Pleasure Resort Planned.
     Development east of the city limits began with a rush when it was announced that the lake would be thrown open as a pleasure resort for boating, bathing, etc., upon the completion of Lake Dallas in Denton county. White Rock lake was built in 1910 as an auxiliary water supply for the city of Dallas, but will no longer be needed as such when the new water supply lake is in operation, except in emergencies.
     It has been announced by city officials that sanitary restrictions would be lifted before next summer, and that the lake will be turned over to the citizens for pleasure.
     Although in the days of early settlers, White Rock was considered a hard day's journey from the city, paved highways and modern transportation has placed it within a few minutes travel of the city dweller. From the postoffice to the spillway on Gaston road is but four and one-fourth miles by way of East Grand avenue, and slightly farther by any of the numerous routes opened up through Country Club Estates and other additions.
     Within the next week or so, the lake will be available to every Dallas street car patron. The bus line which is to connect with the Mount Auburn street car line and run to the eastern side of the lake, will be in operation as soon as the county finishes surfacing a short road between Santa Monica and Gastonwood additions. The street car line is being extended through Hollywood addition to Santa Monica boulevard and eventually will be carried all the way to the lake. In the meantime, the buses will be operated through all the additions between its terminus and the lake over paved boulevards and gaveled county roads.
     Property owners outside the city limits in the White Rock development district already have all the city conveniences that are to be found within the city proper. Interests controlling a dozen subdivisions, pooled together in the organization of the Sewer-Reservoir Protective league and constructed the longest sewer line in the Southwest, from the end of the lake to Second avenue, where it joins with the city's system. The cost of about $200,000 was shared by the city and the property owners. Light service, gas mains and water have, likewise, been extended into the additions before building was started.
     Construction of the East Dallas High school on Glasgow drive, across from Randall Park and the Kid's golf course, was necessitated largely by the rapid expansion in the new East Dallas district. The school, to cost $560,000, is expected to be completed by January 1, 1928, and will serve citizens of the entire White Rock area. This property was formerly in the old Helen Gould school district, which was closed by agreement to enable property owners to send their children to the city schools, tuition being paid through the county superintendent's office.
     So closely are the interests of various property owners around White Rock linked, that the real estate development involved recently organized what they call the New East Dallas association to promote their common civic improvement interests. Clayton Brown, prominent real estate man and owner of Gastonwood addition, is the president.
     Development of New East Dallas began about three years ago with the opening of Country Club Estates, adjacent to the ground of Lakewood Country Club, on Gaston avenue by the Dallas Trust and Savings bank. The property was paved and landscaped, with the intention of making it one of the most exclusive and beautiful home sections of the city. The ambitions of its promoters have not fallen short, for the division is already well built up with magnificent residences. More than $1,000,000 already has been spent on residential construction, according to figures prepared by its developers and much more than that amount is expected to be invested within the next two years. The property in Country Club Estates is restricted to $10,000 for two-story homes and $6,500 for cottages. Very recently, the owners have opened up a new tract north of the present development known as Top o' the Hill, overlooking the city on one side and White Rock lake on the other.
     Without a map, a stranger finds it difficult to discern one division from another. All of them on the west side of the lake adjoin, and about each other, and are equally well equipped as to paving and improvements. But, maps are plentiful thereabouts.
     Driving out East Grand avenue, one reaches the lake over a different route and just as directly.
     Just across from Tenison park is Hollywood addition, which has been developed within the last two years by J. B. Salmon, sole owner. On the 220 lots into which the tract was divided, he has sold all but eighty-five. More than eighty homes have been erected under $6,000 and $4,500 restrictions, and a dozen more are under construction. Every street is paved and rolled curbings are in.
     It was chiefly through Mr. Salmon's efforts that the Mount Auburn car line is being extended through Hollywood addition. Rails are being laid at this time and the extension should be completed this week. The cost to him for this work has been $20,000.

Santa Monica Addition.
     Adjoining Hollywood on the east is Santa Monica, through which the street car extension also is being built. Santa Monica is being developed by Bert Blair, widely known real estate man and one of the most active officers of the new East Dallas association. Here, too, paving, sidewalks and curbings have been completed. Nearly every block of the property is the scene of residential, construction work. The car line will have its terminus in Santa Monica addition, as will the connecting bus line, which is to be operated to White Rock lake.
     The buses will be routed across a short strip of county road to Gastonwood, one of the largest and most attractive of the district. Development in Gastonwood has been under the direction of Clayton Browne.
     Westlake Park adjoins Country Club estates and, although it has never been formally opened, already boasts of $70,000 in residence construction, according to Albert Dines, owner. This sixty-seven-acre tract is restricted to two-story homes on Tokalon drive and brick or tile cottages on Westlake avenue and Lakeshore drive.
     From Westlake Park to Monticello, another beautiful addition, is only a matter of stepping across a paved street. Here it was that John H. Daniel, first White Rock settler, resided, and it was from his children that Boyd Keith, present owner, purchased the ninety acres which comprise the addition. More than $100,000 has been spent within the past year, since the addition was opened, on residential construction, according to A. H. Winston, manager of the realty department of the Republic Trust and Savings bank, which is developing the property. And, an equal investment is in sight, he declares.

Forest Hills District.
     Leaving Gastonwood and Monticello, one can drive over a newly surfaced county road to the other side of the lake and Gaston road. Here, above the spillway, has been opened one of the most beautiful scenic home spots in the district. Forest Hills addition, owned by Leon L. Fechenbach, is a thickly wooded hill overlooking White Rock lake. Like the additions on the other sides, this has been completely paved and improved and the Dallas Gas company is now laying 6,000 feet of high-pressure gas mains to connect it with the city fuel system. Forest Hills has its own water supply, a 1,200-foot artesian well with a high-pressure pumping plant. More than $50,000 already has been spent on residential construction and a quarter-million more is in view, according to the figures of H. W. Brouse, developer.
      Across Gaston road from Forest Hills and beyond Winfrey Point, is the beautiful new tract being opened by Alex and Henry Camp, on top of a high promontory over-looking the lake. The property has been cut into five and ten-acre tracts for costly lakefront homes, which will have a minimum restriction of $17,500. The property already has been landscaped and piped with water, but the improvement work is, by no means, completed.
     The property was purchased from Bob Taylor, negro farmer, who settled on the hill and built a frame shack many years ago. He was a neighbor of Daniel's, and like Daniel, was more interested in crops than city convenience.
     But, that was a long time ago.