Fair Park Carries Dallas's Art Deco and State Fair Story

Fair Park, just east of downtown in South Dallas, is one of the city's clearest history lessons still standing in public view. The grounds have hosted the State Fair of Texas since the 1880s.

The look people know today comes from 1936, when architect George Dahl rebuilt the grounds for the Texas Centennial Exposition. That work left the broad Art Deco buildings, murals, and sculpture along the Esplanade.

Fair Park has three formal layers: Dallas Landmark District, National Register of Historic Places, and National Historic Landmark. It is fairground, museum campus, architecture, and civic memory in one place.