From 1900, a Pawn Shop on Main Street

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Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 12:47PM

Courtesy Justin Cozart

Friend of the show Justin Cozart likes to show off his estimable collection of faded photos of late, great Dallas landmarks, always a welcome respite from the day's breaking news. But over the weekend he posted pictures of a particularly personal nature: exteriors and interiors from his family's businesses, among them this ye olde cigar shoppe and soda fountain on Grand Ave.

But pictured here you'll find his ... lemme make sure I get this right ... his great grandmother's great uncle's pawn shop on Main Street, circa 1900. Sure 'nuff, there it is on Page 285 of the Worley's 1901 Dallas City Directory. Here's the poster-sized version. Looks like a publicity still from an upcoming HBO series or Martin Scorsese movie.

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11 comment(s) / Post a Comment

Peter Stawicki says:

I wonder if that location is still there?? I know of one old turn of the century pawn near Elm & Good Latimer but no others. Would love to find the exact address for this one.

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 1:00PM

MP says:

Check out the second picture of the pawn shop on his Flickr page....I guess guitars have always been popular items to pawn...or steal, depending on your perspective.

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 2:22PM

Warhol Reject says:

I recommend that the Dallas Observer editorial staff pose for photo outside the HQ, in the same turn-o-the-century style... tre chic, no? Time to get the mustache elixir out of the vault...

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 3:53PM

matthew says:

In the city directory entry linked above, it shows two locations for John Henenberg, pawnbroker: 282 Main & 540 Elm.

Per Google Maps, 282 Main doesn't exist anymore, and instead we get 282 W. Main on the other side of the Trinity.

However, 540 Elm comes up:

http://tinyurl.com/kksn3g

No sign of buildings from that period, probably bulldozed like most Dallas buildings over 50 or so.

Some family members took my grandmother on a ride through Dallas to try to find where she used to live in the 1930s. She's pretty sure the spot is right where Central Expressway goes over Bryan. That's about right.

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 3:54PM

Robert Wilonsky says:

This is 282 Main, incidentally, per Justin's Flickr posting.

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 3:56PM

West Village Rulz says:

Shame midcentury Dallas was in such a hurry to pour concrete over our frontier heritage. You can't manufacture character.

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 4:02PM

LakeWWWooder says:

Nary a Stetson - perhaps you ought to send this to that prissy up-north professor who was disparaging our arts district.

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 4:51PM

The Big Guy says:

The Big Guy is from a long line of Southern Jewish Merchants and loves seeing these old pictures

Posted On: Tuesday, Jun. 30 2009 @ 9:26PM

J Cozart says:

Ah very cool.

Louis, the guy below him in the directory, was really named Lazar and was his dad. He came to Dallas in the early 1880s. I guess the trend at the time was to get rid of the 'old country' names.

Posted On: Wednesday, Jul. 1 2009 @ 8:12AM

History Girl says:

Please don't forget that the street addresses all changed in 1911. You need to look in the 1911 City Directory to find the old address then go back.

Posted On: Wednesday, Jul. 1 2009 @ 8:14AM

Daniel says:

Adjacent to the Oak Grove cemetery is a rather large Russian Jewish cemetery with graves dating from the 1850s. Prominent, recognizabe names abound.

For a city with such a WASPy character up until a quarter-century ago, with very little Ashkenazim culture to be found, Dallas was actually founded largely by Jews.

Posted On: Wednesday, Jul. 1 2009 @ 9:09AM