Pleasant Grove, Dallas, Texas
Encyclopedia
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. It is located in the southeast portion of Dallas less than 15 minutes from Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas
Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area termed "Downtown" has traditionally been defined as bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 Downtown Dallas is the Central Business District...
.
The Pleasant Grove area today consists of several neighborhoods that include Buckner Terrace, Everglade Park, Parkdale
Parkdale
- Communities :Australia* Parkdale, VictoriaCanada* Parkdale No. 498, Saskatchewan, a rural municipality in Saskatchewan* Parkdale, Toronto, a neighbourhood in the city of Toronto* Parkdale, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in Lunenburg County...
, Urbandale, The Piedmont Addition (formerly Piedmont), and Pleasant Mound.
Pleasant Grove is one of Dallas's most diverse ethnic and socioeconomic areas. Housing prices have appreciated in the area in part because of new real estate and economic developments, such as Eastfield College Pleasant Grove Campus.
Boundaries
The boundaries of Pleasant Grove are well documented by the Dallas Public Library Sam Street's Map of Dallas County, Texas. and a 1941 road map of Dallas County, Texas, by the Dallas County Engineering Department.History
Lisa C. Maxwell gives the history of Pleasant Grove in "The Handbook of Texas":
"The center of old Pleasant Grove was at Lake June Road and Buckner Boulevard, but the area now considered Pleasant Grove includes portions of Pleasant Mound, Urbandale, Parkdale, and Piedmont. The first settlers in the Pleasant Grove area in the 1840s included W. B. Elam, who held the original land grant, Richard Bruton, and Cornelius Cox. By 1875 a wooden building was used as a union church and school. An early teacher at one of the schools built in the 1880s was Don Lebow, who named the school Pleasant Grove after its location in a grove of cottonwood trees. The name was then applied to both the school and the community. In 1900 Sam Street's map of Dallas County showed Pleasant Grove as a small community with a store. In 1916 the first brick schoolhouse was built."
Recreation
Pleasant Grove is a 15 minute drive from White Rock LakeWhite Rock Lake
White Rock Lake is a reservoir located in east Dallas, Texas . The lake was formed by damming White Rock Creek, which today widens into the lake before continuing south out of the spillway and emptying into the Trinity River...
and less than a 20 minute drive to Lake Ray Hubbard.
Lake Ray Hubbard
Lake Ray Hubbard, formerly Forney Lake, is a reservoir located in Dallas, Texas in the counties of Dallas, Kaufman, Collin, and Rockwall County, Texas, just north of Forney, Texas, built on the East Fork Trinity River and impounded by the Rockwall-Forney Dam.It measures 22,745 acres in size with...
Education
High Schools- Skyline High School
- W.W. Samuell High School.Samuell High SchoolW. W. Samuell High School is a public secondary school located in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, Texas . Samuell High enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District....
- H. Grady Spruce High SchoolH. Grady Spruce High SchoolH. Grady Spruce High School is a public school in the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas, Texas. H. Grady Spruce High School, which covers grades 9-12, is a part of the Dallas Independent School District....
Adelfa Callejo Elementary School will open in Pleasant Grove in 2012, and Thelma Elizabeth Page Richardson Elementary School will open in Pleasant Grove in 2013.
Ann Richards Middle School will open in Pleasant Grove in 2012.
Trains
A freight line runs through the northern edge of Pleasant Grove, as does another along the edge of the Trinity Forest and US 175. The DART Green Line runs parallel to this line.Light Rail
- DARTDallas Area Rapid TransitThe Dallas Area Rapid Transit authority is a transit agency based in Dallas, Texas . It operates buses, light rail, commuter rail, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Dallas and 12 of its suburbs...
: - Lake June Station
- Buckner StationBuckner StationBuckner Station is a DART light rail station located in southeast Dallas, Texas for service on the . The station opened as part of the Green Line's expansion in December 2010. Buckner Station serves as the southern terminus of the Green Line....
Highways
Interstate 20
Interstate 30
Interstate 45
U.S. Highway 175
Famous residents
- Dan SealsDan SealsDanny Wayland "Dan" Seals was an American musician. The younger brother of Seals & Crofts member Jim Seals, he first gained fame as the "England Dan" half of the soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, which charted nine pop and adult contemporary singles between 1976 and 1980, including...
— country and pop musician also known as England Dan. - John Ford ColeyJohn Ford ColeyJohn Ford Coley is a singer, classically trained pianist, guitarist, actor, and author most known for his partnership in the musical duo England Dan & John Ford Coley.-Early life:...
— partner in musical duo with Dan Seals; hits include "I'd Really Love to See You TonightI'd Really Love to See You Tonight"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight" was written by Parker McGee and was a hit by England Dan & John Ford Coley from their 1976 album Nights Are Forever...
" - Steve Ramsey — PunterPunter (football position)A punter in American or Canadian football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a...
/QuarterbackQuarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
New Orleans SaintsNew Orleans SaintsThe New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
1970, Denver BroncosDenver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1971–76) - Lulu RomanLulu RomanLulu Roman is a former telephone operator and go-go dancer turned comedian and singer. She is probably best known as a regular on the comedy-music television series Hee Haw....
— Former Hee HawHee HawHee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
TV show personality. - Joe Kendall — former federal judge (1992–2002)
- Russ MartinRuss MartinRussell Dale Martin is an American radio shock jock in Dallas, Texas. He has worked in the Dallas radio market for over 26 years. Martin hosted the #1 rated The Russ Martin Show on KLLI Live 105.3 in Dallas, until December 8, 2008 when KLLI switched to an all-sports format...
— Host of The Russ Martin Show, a radio program in Dallas. - Carl MitchamCarl MitchamCarl Mitcham is a philosopher of technology. Born in 1941, Mitcham is currently Professor of Liberal Arts and International Studies at the Colorado School of Mines and a professor at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee....
— philosopher of technology and engineering, now at Colorado School of MinesColorado School of MinesThe Colorado School of Mines is a small public teaching and research university devoted to engineering and applied science, with special expertise in the development and stewardship of the Earth's natural resources. Located in Golden, Colorado, CSM was ranked 29th, in America among national... - Maceo BastonMaceo BastonMaceo Demond Baston is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent.-College career:After graduating from Dallas' H. Grady Spruce High School, Baston played college basketball at the University of Michigan. At Michigan, he was part of an all-star recruiting class that...
grew up in the Pleasant Grove area and attended Nancy Moseley Elementary School. He plays for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA. - C.J. Miles of the Utah Jazz grew up in pleasant grove and attended Skyline Career Development Center. As a senior in high school he was named to the McDonald's all-high school team.
- Former NBA player Larry Johnson grew up in the Pleasant Grove area and attended John B. Hood Middle School and Skyline High School.
- Michael JohnsonMichael Johnson (athlete)Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...
also attended Skyline High School, gaining fame as a US Olympic Gold Medalist, setting numerous world records in Men's Sprinting.
Further reading
- Miss Adas Pleasant Grove Community by Carothers, Meredith
- Pleasant Grove, yesterday and today by Samuell (W.W.) High School. 1979 English 501-503 Class