Municipal Archives


Earl Hart Family—White Rock Lake Collection, 1926-1948

Collection 2008-002

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Repository
Office of the City Secretary
Dallas Municipal Archives
1500 Marilla Street, 5D South
Dallas, Texas 75201​
CreatorEarl Hart, Mary Jane Hart, Patricia Wray Vassilaros
TitleEarl Hart Family—White Rock Lake Collection
Dates1926-1948
Quantity2 linear inches
AbstractCorrespondence, business records, newspaper clippings, and ephemera concerning the Earl Hart Family of Dallas, Texas.
Identification2008-002
LanguageRecords are in English

Scope and Content

Collection documents the life and career of Earl R. Hart, superintendent of White Rock Lake 1933-1943, his wife Mary Jane Hart, their children, and White Rock Lake. Hart was superintendent during the Lake's greatest period of development, when the Civilian Conservation Corps completed extensive landscaping and building projects between 1937 and 1941. Hart also served as the lake's park police and the family lived in the caretaker's residence at the lake. Upon Earl Hart's death in 1943, his widow operated the park's Sunset Inn concession and cafe until financial hardship forced its closure in 1948. 

The images in this collection include Hart Family photographs, mostly taken at White Rock, revealing many details about the lake prior to the 1950s. Textual materials include records of Earl and Mary Jane Hart, biographical and genealogical information on the Hart Family, personal recollections of daughters Jackie Hart and Lillian Hart Wray, and newspaper clippings regarding White Rock Lake. Ephemera includes menus for the Sunset Inn. 

Collection donated by Pat Wray Vassilaros and descendants of the Earl Hart Family.

Organization

The collection is arranged in chronological order.

Access​

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.

Citation

Earl Hart Family—White Rock Lake Collection, 1926-1948 (Box <x>, Folder <y>), Dallas Municipal Archives

Related Materials

None

Index Terms

Dallas -- Texas -- History  ​
Hart, Earl Richard  
Hart Family (Dallas, Tex.) 
Hart, Mary Jane McClure  
Parks -- Texas -- History 

Container List 

BoxFolder
Title, Date
11Earl R. Hart correspondence and work credentials, 1939-1943
 2Hart Family biographical and genealogical data, 1929, 1943, and undated
 3Sunset Inn records, 1944-1948
 4Photographs, 1926-1944 and undated
 5Newspaper clippings, 1941