How many remember.....

[EarleyBird]

I used to work in the Mobil Building in mid 70's. I was the last employee out of the building; handed the keys over to the city of Dallas.
Durn here also, I can't remember the date but it was late November at 6:00 pm. I had to report to Aldine Pipeline Hdqtrs on Dec. 2.

Tried to climb up on the horse one weekend; had to clean a cooling tower on the roof on the weekend. It was about 15' from the edge of the building and I got high enough to be able to see over the edge of the building and decided that was far enough..

I always have peculiar feelings about situations like that. On the 26th floor, there is a ledge that runs completely around the building. The used to have AC condensing units sitting on that ledge(about 6' wide as I recall) and we'd have to crawl thru a window to service the units. I tried not to look over too much. Had a nice 3 rail fence around it with a cyclone fence mounted several feet below it to hinder folks that wanted to jump.

Dont recall the exact dates, but the building was built before AC was prevalent. A couple of years later they added what they called the "18" rooms to update to some air conditioning(AC). The floors had offices numbered 1-17 on each floor. When they added on the new rooms were called 318, 518 etc.
Every other floor was dedicated to 'mechanical rooms' for AC. You could see humongous bolts thru the walls where the new rooms were thru bolted to the existing building. On top of the "18" rooms was a Terrazo roof. Had to crawl thru a window on the 25th floor to get out on it. We used to go up and look out on it and you could see Town East pretty good. I always had a thought of that "wing" just falling off like it was just bolted on.

One more story if you aren't too bored to read on.

Right under the Pegasus was an observation deck. You had to climb some stairs from the Elevator Mechanical room; where the motors, cables and relay boards run the elevators. Of course the deck was locked, but I had the keys(Maintenance), but you had to check in with the Security and get clearance to go up there. It was completely chain link fenced in except for a 12" or so gap for viewing. Some one had jumped off years before, so they say.
One Saturday night a buddy of mine and our dates got the wild idea to go up. We checked in and Security let me(us) go up.
My date was kinda crazy. She got an idea to stand on her hands while leaning against the fence. I tried, but my feet wouldn't get about 18" off the ground; strange feeling for me, but had a few good feeling that night.

Haha, great story!

[kurt68]

Cool stories, my best friend during high school owns the cafe on the street level now. Was a Starbucks before he took it over.

[hpdrifter]

Cool stories, my best friend during high school owns the cafe on the street level now. Was a Starbucks before he took it over.

wow, that brought back a memory. The corner office on street level, had a plumbing issue one day. I would have never believed this, but there is a crawl space below it....tight.

Guess who got to do the soldering in a 20" X 20 something inch crawl space!!! Had to crawl out backwards to get out.

If he wasn't on the "corner", then there used to be a travel agency in the next door way back then.

[hpdrifter]

Great story!


The property where Mountain View College is was just pasture land. The owner let me and my buddies camp there. Bed sheet tents and food stuffed in pillow cases.

yes, there was lots of pastureland around back then. Town East was built just a few years before that, I think around 68,69, not too sure. I know North Mesquite was built just a few years after TE went up. That split Mesquite into two high schools during my Jr. year.
Used to go shooting down off of Barns Bridge road. We'd take our 22's and go "rat" hunting in the tall grass.

Thought I'd die on TE parking lot one night. Had an ice storm and TE wasn't open yet. A friend of mine had a cool old VW and we went "ice skating" in it. They had some light standards set and I swear we pirouetted around one of them just by inches.

[Graysonhogs]

We used to go to the Lone Star Cement plant off of I30 up on Chalk Hill and get paid to shoot pigeons out of the metal buildings. Got 10 cents a bird.

That would buy a lot of Whoppers back in the day.

[Leonhogboy]

Thought I'd die on TE parking lot one night. Had an ice storm and TE wasn't open yet. A friend of mine had a cool old VW and we went "ice skating" in it. They had some light standards set and I swear we pirouetted around one of them just by inches.

Reading this brings back some great memories. Winter sports in Idaho 1970-71 timeframe. Hauling *** down a driveway into the supermarket parking lot, cranking the steering wheel, pulling the emergency brake, and looking for a 720 or 1080. And yes, there were light poles.

[dhall1414]

now it's the Magnolia Hotel. I valeted there for 2 years in college, 2010 & 2011.

[Burnadell]

I used to work in the Mobil Building in mid 70's. I was the last employee out of the building; handed the keys over to the city of Dallas.
Durn here also, I can't remember the date but it was late November at 6:00 pm. I had to report to Aldine Pipeline Hdqtrs on Dec. 2.

Tried to climb up on the horse one weekend; had to clean a cooling tower on the roof on the weekend. It was about 15' from the edge of the building and I got high enough to be able to see over the edge of the building and decided that was far enough..

I always have peculiar feelings about situations like that. On the 26th floor, there is a ledge that runs completely around the building. The used to have AC condensing units sitting on that ledge(about 6' wide as I recall) and we'd have to crawl thru a window to service the units. I tried not to look over too much. Had a nice 3 rail fence around it with a cyclone fence mounted several feet below it to hinder folks that wanted to jump.

Dont recall the exact dates, but the building was built before AC was prevalent. A couple of years later they added what they called the "18" rooms to update to some air conditioning(AC). The floors had offices numbered 1-17 on each floor. When they added on the new rooms were called 318, 518 etc.
Every other floor was dedicated to 'mechanical rooms' for AC. You could see humongous bolts thru the walls where the new rooms were thru bolted to the existing building. On top of the "18" rooms was a Terrazo roof. Had to crawl thru a window on the 25th floor to get out on it. We used to go up and look out on it and you could see Town East pretty good. I always had a thought of that "wing" just falling off like it was just bolted on.

One more story if you aren't too bored to read on.

Right under the Pegasus was an observation deck. You had to climb some stairs from the Elevator Mechanical room; where the motors, cables and relay boards run the elevators. Of course the deck was locked, but I had the keys(Maintenance), but you had to check in with the Security and get clearance to go up there. It was completely chain link fenced in except for a 12" or so gap for viewing. Some one had jumped off years before, so they say.
One Saturday night a buddy of mine and our dates got the wild idea to go up. We checked in and Security let me(us) go up.
My date was kinda crazy. She got an idea to stand on her hands while leaning against the fence. I tried, but my feet wouldn't get about 18" off the ground; strange feeling for me, but had a few good feeling that night.

Cool story! We both worked within a few blocks of each other back in the 70's. I worked at 1st National Bank in Dallas then. When it was completed in 1965, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Good times.

[gatt40]

I remember it well. My wife got her first job there and I dropped her off daily. We lived in Denton. I remember well how I 35 was always under construction. Hated the drive.

[3ChordTruth]

Really cool story hpdrifter, brings back lots of memories of Downtown Dallas in that time period. Here's To The Sunny Slopes Of Long Ago- Augustus McCrae.

[Goldeneagle]

That would buy a lot of Whoppers back in the day.

I remember when the first BK and Jack In The Box opened in Dallas. Went to BK and my dad had a fit. "I'm not paying 59 cents for a hamburger! We can go down the street and get one for 39 cents!"

now it's the Magnolia Hotel. I valeted there for 2 years in college, 2010 & 2011.

The Magnolia changed to the Beman a little while back. I heard that those folks in Waco bought the Magnolia name from the hotel. My aunt worked in one of the builds right there and me and my dad would go up on the roof and watch the Cowboys practice.

[Arrowsmith]

Anyone ever go up on the observation deck on the Southland Life building? My Dad and I went up a couple of times. It was very windy and scary for a 10 year old.

My Dad would also take me to Love Field and sit in the seated observation area in the terminal and watch the planes roll in.

I remember the TTA (Trans Texas Airways) and Central Airlines DC-3s would keep the right engine running while the passengers would deplane. The new boarding passengers would be waiting at the bottom of the stairs. They would hurry onto the plane the, the stairs would be lifted, the left engine would fire up and away they would go. TTA and Central were the first commuter airlines in Texas. TTA later became Texas International (remember peanut fares) and then merged...... actually bailed out a struggling Continental Airlines.

Here is some history on the Southland Life building.

When groundbreaking for the buildings took place in 1955 it was compared to Manhattan's Rockefeller Center, as Southland Center was the first mixed-use project in downtown containing both hotel and office space.
Southland Center was the second major development in the northeast end of downtown now known as the City Center District. The original two buildings, completed in 1958, consisted of the 42-story 550-foot (170 m) center tower, the Southland Life Building, and the 28 story 353-foot (108 m) south tower, the 510-room Sheraton Dallas Hotel.

Celebrities Johnny Weissmuller and June Lockhart appeared at the dedication ceremony in 1959. In early 1981, the 31 story (448 ft) north Skyway Tower was added as additional office space. All three buildings are rectangular slab structures resting on a common base. The facade was covered with curtain walls of glass and 1,000+ spandrel panels of light weight precast concrete faced with blue Italian glass mosaic tiles.
The Southland Life Building overtook the Republic National Bank Building and became from 1959 to 1964 the tallest in the city and the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Its height was later surpassed in the city by Republic Center Tower II

For many years after the building's opening, the most exclusive restaurant in downtown Dallas was the Chaparral Club on the 37th floor, and an observation deck occupied the top of the tower.



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[Goldeneagle]

We went to Love Field and stood at the fence to watch the first 747 to land in Dallas. It was a really big deal.

[3ChordTruth]

Cool story! We both worked within a few blocks of each other back in the 70's. I worked at 1st National Bank in Dallas then. When it was completed in 1965, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Good times.

I was there at that time too, and you might recall this.

Around Christmas, and Saint Patrick's Day, and Texas-OU weekend and maybe a few other times during the year a gentleman would visit the lobbies of the big downtown Dallas banks and perform songs with his operatic baritone. He would walk from First National Bank to Mercantile to Republic-Bank with stops along the way at The Adolphus, etc. He dressed as Santa and did Christmas carols, he dressed like a leprechaun and did Irish songs, he wore a burnt orange and white suite and sang "The Eyes of Texas",etc. Downtown workers would quickly spread the word when he was performing, and large audiences would form with flash mob speed. I know at First National Bank we would pack the main banking lobby on the 4th floor and the 5th floor mezzanine to watch him sing. He was a great performer, and was very popular, but that was just another time. I miss those days.

[hpdrifter]

We went to Love Field and stood at the fence to watch the first 747 to land in Dallas. It was a really big deal.

My third grade class went on a field trip to Love field and a 707 Jet airliner.
Saw John Wayne and his entourage in a corridor.