Deep Ellum Foundation sets date for historical marker ceremony

Deep Ellum will celebrate its National Register of Historic Places designation with the unveiling of a marker on Sept. 29.

In July, the Deep Ellum Foundation announced blocks in the neighborhood had earned the federal designation, which covers 213 buildings across just over 110 acres.

The marker will be installed in a ceremony in front of the Kimpton Pittman Hotel, housed in the former Knights of Pythias Temple on Elm Street. A private reception that includes city, county, state and federal officials and stakeholders will follow, said Stephanie Keller Hudiburg, executive director of the Deep Ellum Foundation.

The National Register of Historic Places is part of a federal program that supports public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect the nation’s historic and archeological resources. The register includes 3,400 listings in Texas.

The National Register does not issue plaques for listings, so the Deep Ellum Foundation turned to a local sign company just outside of Deep Ellum to create one.

The vertical sign measures 40 inches tall and 26 inches wide. The National Register does not have formal requirements or suggestions for phrasing on the plaques but does provide examples on its website.

“I sought their guidance — a lot,” Hudiburg said Thursday.

The nonprofit Deep Ellum Foundation served as the official applicant for the designation with the support of Preservation Dallas, the Summerlee Foundation and the city of Dallas. HHM & Associates put together the application, and the Texas Historical Commission assisted. The application was approved on June 30.

The state commission said the area was listed because of “its associations with Dallas commerce and for its rich and diverse social history.”

The application for the register defines the Deep Ellum Historic District as a jigsaw-like zone bounded by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Green Line tracks and Elm Street to the north, South Hall Street to the south, North Central Expressway to the west and R.L. Thornton Freeway to the east. The area excludes blocks in the neighborhood deemed less historically significant.

Being listed affords properties a measure of protection from the impact of federally funded projects. It also allows access to technical expertise and grant funds for restoration and preservation.

In addition, income-producing properties become eligible for federal tax benefits for rehabilitation work.

Neighborhood leaders trace Deep Ellum’s birth to 1873, the year railroad tracks from the Houston and Texas Central and the Texas and Pacific railroads met.