I took the opportunity to join the Dallas Historical Society for their “Sinners and Saints” tour, an offering from the “Historic City Tours” schedule. The bus departed from Fair Parks’ Hall of State with speaker/teacher/historian/author Rose-Mary Rumbley serving as our guide. On the way to our Arlington destination, Rose-Mary offered her usual entertaining dialog to provide background for what we were about to see. The story included casino gambling, Texas Rangers, and Baptists, an awesome combination.
I thought I would go into history overload as we pulled off of the old Bankhead Highway, now West Division, drove through the Millsap stone entry, complete with guardhouse and were met by a Pompeo Coppini statue of J. Frank Norris. The site has been home to Arlington Baptist College since 1956 and has only recently embraced its unsavory beginnings through the tireless efforts of Vickie Bryant, a member of the ABC family since 1993.
Vickie has composed an excellent Power Point Presentation delivered concisely thanks to a steady stream of tours. If anyone knows anything or anyone connected to Top O’ Hill, they will not leave until that knowledge is transferred to her. It’s always refreshing when the teacher is willing to become the student. That’s how most of her research has occurred as the college didn’t care to retain any of the trappings of the previous owner.
The story of Top O’ Hill Terrace began innocently as a tea room in the early 1920’s, owned by Beulah Adams Marshall, serving meals to the hungry travelers on the main highway between Dallas and Fort Worth. When Mary and Fred Browning bought the property in 1926 they soon turned it into a casino, complete with hidden rooms and escape tunnels which are still visible today. It has been estimated that $50 million was taken in during their two decade run. In the true sense of diversification, Browning also dabbled in horses, boxers, and a brothel was located on site.
The hilltop location with panoramic views, a fenced perimeter patrolled by armed guards and an alarm system kept things in check most of the time. Raids did occur, including one led by the Fundamentalist Baptist Preacher Norris himself in 1933. In 1947, Texas Ranger Captain M.T. “Lone Wolf” Gonzaullas also successfully conducted a raid. The raids were only a minor inconvenience for Browning who was back in business within days. It took a state legislative investigation to put an end to gambling in Texas, Top O’ Hill Terrace closed its doors in 1949.
Over the years the buildings have become repurposed, the location of the casino is now the cafeteria. The building that contained the stables is now classrooms. A building built to house Royal Ford, the stallion purchased from Arlington Downs owner W.T. Waggoner in the 1930’s, is now the museum. The pool used in training by boxers, including hall of famer Lew Jenkins, is used for storage. And the brothel was converted into the women’s dormitory.
I strongly urge anyone interested to schedule a tour, and anyone with any information related to Top O’ Hill please contact Vickie Bryant at Arlington Baptist College. They have a really good website
http://www.abconline.edu/HTML/TopOHill/TopOHill.html.
For more information on Historic City Tours go to the Dallas Historical Society website
http://www.dallashistory.org/activities/tours.htm
y trip to San Marcos for the Texas Folklore Society Meeting included a visit to the Wittliff Collections, located on the seventh floor of the Albert B. Alkek Library at Texas State University. Curator Steve Davis served as host and guide, cordially answering questions and directing traffic. The Wittliff Collections are made up of The Southwest Writers Collection, The Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection, and The Lonesome Dove Collection. The gallery spaces are beautiful, my only regret is I couldn’t spend more time there, I’ll definitely go back. Their website: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/
