North Dallas High School

The city's fifth high school opened in 1922 on the far north edge of Dallas. At the time, there were three high schools for Caucasian students (Bryan Street, Oak Cliff and Forest) and one for African Americans (Booker T. Washington). The school board responded to growing enrollment with plans for a new school on John H. Cole's farm, the site of the first Texas State Fair in 1886. Board member Clinton Russell chose the site and helped plan the school. He took trips at his own expense to study schools in other cities, and he visited the site daily to personally supervise construction. William B. Ittner of St. Louis, Missouri, who designed hundreds of schools across the U.S., was chosen as architect of North Dallas High School (NDHS). The doors opened on February 13, 1922 with 650 students and E.B. Comstock as the first principal. The first graduating class began an alumni association and established two main events: an Easter morning breakfast and a banquet soon after Christmas. The school mascot (Bulldogs), yearbook (Viking) and colors (orange and white) were chosen in the first few years. The Bulldogs captured many city athletic championships, and an Oct. 1930 football game between North Dallas and Sunset High in the new Fair Park Stadium (later the Cotton Bowl) drew 45,000 fans, then a state record for a high school event. Many distinguished alumni have had notable careers in business, politics and the arts. Court-ordered school desegregation began in Dallas in 1960. Thirty years later, the NDHS student body was 65 percent Hispanic, 12 percent Asian, and thirty-two different countries of origin were represented. The state Legislature and U.S. Congress recognized NDHS as the first international school in the state and nation. (2008)

North Dallas High School is a historical marker in Dallas, Dallas County, dedicated in 2008. It is one of 352 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 574 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.8100, -96.7950 near Dallas. The nearest cataloged historic site is Temple Emanu-el Cemetery (historical marker), about 0.5 miles away. Others within a short drive include Building @ 3525 Turtle Creek Boulevard, Freedmans Memorial Park, and Robert E. Lee Park.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507014628. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.