More Info and Purchase Tickets Here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-summer-sizzler-the-first-good-road-to-dallas-the-bankhead-highway-tickets-672647806697?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl
Please join Preservation Dallas for our 2023 Summer Sizzler: “The First ‘Good Road’ To Dallas: The Bankhead Highway.” The event will be held THIS THURSDAY, August 24th, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm at El Ranchito restaurant in Oak Cliff. Dinner is included in the ticket cost of $25 per person. This event is being presented in partnership with our friends at Heritage Oak Cliff.
The Bankhead Highway—which was numbered Texas Highway 1—was the first all-weather highway across the United States, and the first paved road across Texas. Named after Alabama Senator John Hollis Bankhead, a proponent of the “Good Roads” movement, the Bankhead’s route stretched from Washington, DC to San Diego, avoiding major mountain ranges for most of the route. Roughly the middle third of the highway traversed Texas, from Texarkana to El Paso, and the Bankhead was the main thoroughfare bringing travelers through dozens of Texas cities and towns, including Dallas.
Our program will feature two speakers:
Matt Weinstein, Director of Programs at Preservation Dallas, will speak about the national and statewide context for the Bankhead. As a Legislative Aide at the Texas Capitol in 2009, Matt was responsible for stewarding the legislation that created the THC’s Texas Historic Highways program, and that designated the Bankhead Highway as a historic Texas highway.
Marcel Quimby, a prominent Dallas preservation architect and former President of Preservation Dallas, will speak about the local routes, historical context, and legacy of the Bankhead Highway in Dallas, where the highway played a major role in shaping several neighborhoods, and the city’s commercial landscape. Marcel researched and wrote an article about the Bankhead Highway for AIA Dallas' Columns Magazine in 2018, which can be viewed at https://www.aiadallas.org/v/columns-detail/The-Bankhead-Highway-A-Strip-of-Pavement-that-Changed-Texas-Forever/so/
Another high point of the program will be the venue, El Ranchito, located at 610 West Jefferson in Oak Cliff, along the Bankhead Highway route. The restaurant was designed by iconic Dallas architect Charles Dilbeck, and opened as Red Bryan’s Smokehouse in 1947.
Dinner options include the following (you will be asked to select an option when you book your ticket):
ENCHILADAS SUIZAS
Chicken enchiladas with tomatillo salsa, crema mexicana, refried beans
TACOS DE BRISKET
Two shredded brisket tacos cooked with onions and poblano peppers, rice & charro beans
POLLO EN MOLE
Two bone-in pieces of chicken, topped with mole sauce, rice & beans
TACOS DE CAMARON
Two fried shrimp tacos, cabbage, rice & sauteed veggies
VEGGIE FAJITAS
Grilled vegetable fajitas, served with rice, beans, & pico de gallo
