The creek starts in north central Dallas and flows southwest some five miles to the Trinity River. It was allegedly named by either early settler James Beeman or by the survivors of an Indian scouting expedition who camped along its banks in the mid-1800's.
It maintains its reputation as Dallas' "most notable waterway", never running dry and coursing through some of the highest valued real estate in the City. Turtle Creek became home to North Dallas' first public park (Lee Park) in 1909, and in subsequent years, became part of a city-wide park system plan developed by George Kessler.
Though this plan has not been fully implemented, and despite an intensification of development along the creek corridor, Turtle Creek continues to be a beautiful, much needed greenbelt in the heart of Dallas. It remains home to turtles, fish, ducks, squirrels, rabbits and other small wildlife.
As far as the built enviroment is concerned, among the outstanding architectural works along Turtle Creek are the Kalita Humphreys Theater, home to the Dallas Theater Center and the only public theater designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Mansion on Turtle Creek, originally the residence of cotton magnate Sheppard King, designed and built in the style of 16th century Italian architecture.
I personally like Turtle Creek as a great setting for picnics or a daytime stroll. Most days, you will run into locals walking, running or taking their dogs for walks. When the fish are biting, you'll see a few weekend urban anglers along the banks with fishing poles propped against one side of their folding chairs and a cooler of cold drinks on the other.
Turtle Creek can also be appreciated from the nearby Katy Trail, an old elevated rail corridor that ran through Missouri, Kansas and Texas ("M-K-T", shortened to "Katy"). The Katy Railroad trains used to run between St. Louis and Dallas for over a hundred years before being decommissioned in 1992. The Trail is currently being rehabilitated into a 17-mile long multi-use trail, accomodating joggers, cyclists, skaters and strollers. The first phase opened in May 2000, shortly after I first moved to Dallas.
I would usually take the trail back home after my weekly comic book fix. Or when I'm feeling particularly energetic, I would do a short weekend run along the Trail from my neighborhood to past Blackburn Road and back. |
