When was this house built?
The 1939 advertisement predates DCAD’s 1954 year, but the original date and continuity of the present structure remain unproved. Early plats, improvement cards, permits and sharper footprint comparisons are the next steps.
THE RESEARCH ROOM
A story you
can trace.
The sources, the distinctions and the questions behind Garden Villa’s history. Every discovery is more useful when its evidence travels with it.
26 pages · approximately 2 MB · Research reviewed October 31, 2026
HOW TO READ THIS HISTORY
The record comes first.
Newspaper screenshots, original directory scans, county deeds, official mapping and the family’s own account form this working history. Earlier stories were treated as leads and checked against recoverable evidence.
The full report retains detailed research notes, corrections and source references. Some family-held originals referenced there are not public; the excerpts and citations on this site are available to visitors.
- Documented
- A checked record directly names an address, person, use or parcel.
- Reasoned connection
- Records fit together, but do not expressly establish the conclusion.
- Family account
- Recent milestones and rehabilitation details reported by the owners.
- Open question
- A claim that needs another record before it becomes part of the established story.
STILL LOOKING
Good questions
keep a history open.
Who ran Garden Villa?
The 1935 notice names Mrs. G. E. Findley as organizer of the benefit. It does not identify a club proprietor. A possible Ruth Findley directory match is only a lead, not a confirmed identification.
Did it become Shady Nook?
The two names are documented at the same street number in 1935 and 1937. A direct succession, shared operator or business connection has not been established.
What came before the Baileys?
The original 1954 Bailey-to-Williams deed, the Bailey acquisition and the Barnard-to-Bailey connection remain to be traced. The 1949 easement recites a Miller transfer, but its original deed has not been verified.
Is there a photograph or a logo?
No authenticated early exterior image, menu, matchbook or logo for Garden Villa Club or the Polk Street Shady Nook has been recovered. The Dixie marks are contextual artifacts, not venue branding.
Who painted J.V.?
Johnny Mack Vaughn’s name in a deed suggests a person to investigate. The garage initials still have no established painter or date. A sign-shop explanation for a surviving slab is also unproved.
Details worth getting right.
- The Garden Villa benefit notice says 9 p.m., not 8 p.m.
- The directory reads Wm Bailey, meaning William, not “Win.”
- The 1951 duplex price is an asking price; the later room notice does not establish a garage apartment.
- The older 1404 was renumbered 1416. That is not yet a demonstrated match to today’s parcel.
- No verified record here establishes decades of later dance-hall operation.
- The 2012 amount is a proposed assessment, not a verified current balance. The 1992 exhibit alone does not establish signed easement terms.
FOLLOW THE PAPER TRAIL
The source register.
Numbers match the complete research report. Printed page numbers can differ from digital image numbers. Linked newspaper crops come from the family-supplied screenshots; directory links lead to the holding archive.
58 source entries
Dallas Central Appraisal District, property detail
Account 00000363928000000; legal description, land area, and both 1954 year fields. Retrieved directly from DCAD.
Open record or reference ↗DCAD, account history
Annual owner/legal-description rows 1999-2026, deed references and transfer fields. These are tax records, not reviewed executed conveyances.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1941, printed p. 818
Hubert S. and Myrtle Shanklin at 1404 S. Polk. Original scan inspected; image 826. UNT Libraries, crediting Dallas Public Library.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1938, printed p. 1252
Hubert S. and Myrtle C. Shanklin at 902 Montreal Avenue; used only to trace the family.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1955, printed p. 71
William and Wanda Bailey personal entries. Original scan inspected; image 65.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1955, printed p. 1119
Texas Sign Service business entry. Original scan inspected; image 1113.
Open record or reference ↗Institute of Radio Engineers Yearbook, 1946
Printed p. 142, left page of PDF image 72: Eddie Miller address entry. Original scan inspected; hosted by the Engineering and Technology History Wiki.
Open record or reference ↗Adobe Scan Nov 8, 2024.pdf
Family-supplied two-page survey scan. Exhibit A bears a September 9, 1992 fax line. The linked excerpt is a historical exhibit, not a present boundary determination.
Open record or reference ↗SMU, 1930 Fairchild aerial, grid 043
Unlabeled item 133 and labeled companion 149, Marsalis Park / Marsalis Zoo area. Original date October 1930. Credit: Foscue Map Collection, SMU Libraries.
Open record or reference ↗SMU, Oak Cliff / Cockrell Hill aerial, 1945
USAAF photographs for USDA; survey compiled in 1946. Grid 10, unlabeled item 1. Credit: Foscue Map Collection, SMU Libraries.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Council resolution 12-0925
March 28, 2012; original 27-page PDF, especially page 13. Property assessment row inspected visually.
Open record or reference ↗Your September 2026 appraisal
Family-held September 2026 appraisal, inspected September 8 and signed September 14. It carries the year 1954; the private appraisal is not reproduced on this site.
Dallas City Directory, 1941, printed p. 96
Jas. C. Barnard entry at 1718 Ramsey Avenue. This corrects the earlier address attribution.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Public Library, Dallas & Texas History
Confirms historical Dallas Morning News online access with a library card and microfilm holdings. The notice itself is now documented by your supplied screenshot, source 18.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1930, printed p. 2353
South Polk reverse listing: Charles at 1400, vacant at 1404; image 2353. This is a historical street-number record, not an identified modern parcel.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1933-34, printed p. 1830
Charles at 1412 (1400); vacant at 1416 (1404). Original scan inspected; image 1838. UNT Libraries / Dallas Public Library.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1956, printed p. 2096
Texas Sign Service at 1104 Corinth. Indexed OCR checked, original scan not inspected; image 3507.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1956, printed p. 869
Houston Mitchell personal entry names Texas Sign Service. Original scan inspected; image 871.
Open record or reference ↗DCAD ParcelQuery, ParcelPublishing layer
Queried PARCELID 00000363928000000 with geometry in EPSG:4326. Returned 1404 S POLK ST, Lot 1 and N 16 ft Lot 2, Block 5159.
Open record or reference ↗City of Dallas, Annexations layer, record 437
Spatial query returned Ordinance 3628, effective May 23, 1945, Tract 30. All current parcel vertices fall inside its polygon. The boundary-discrepancy note is discussed in the findings.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Municipal Archives, Annexation Plat Maps
Collection 1994-001, Box 1, Folder 17: maps for Ordinance 3628, May 23, 1945. Catalog checked; original attachments not inspected.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Municipal Archives, Council Minutes Indexes
Collection 1996-041. Selected 1933-39 dance-permit, G, and Polk sections and selected 1953-55 Bailey/Polk sections checked. No independent Garden Villa identification found.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Morning News, September 19, 1935, p. 11
Garden Villa Club benefit notice. Family-supplied NewsBank screenshot IMG_1287.jpg; the visible header gives the issue date. Original screenshot inspected, not a separately retrieved whole issue.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Morning News, September 24, 1939, p. 9
Two-story, six-room frame house advertisement. Supplied screenshot IMG_1289.jpg. The separate nine-room listing below is not this property.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Morning News, July 28, 1951, p. 11
Rustic duplex offered for $9,600; garage, fish pond, pecans and peaches. Supplied screenshot IMG_1295 3.jpg.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Morning News, October 24, 1951, p. 11
Three-room furnished apartment, private bath and entrance. Family screenshot IMG_1299.jpg. The report supplies the transcription and provenance.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Morning News, February 6, 1952, p. 11
Three furnished rooms, $20 weekly with bills paid, child welcome, Elmwood bus at the door. Family screenshot IMG_1300.jpg.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas Morning News, April 24, 1962, p. 13
Rustic Acre With Creek, 1404 South Polk at Elmwood Boulevard. Bettye Byrd, Realtor. Supplied screenshot IMG_1296 2.jpg.
Open record or reference ↗Vaughn deed, executed December 10, 1980
Supplied file CityDeed_1981.pdf. Lowry D., Johnny Mack and Eddie Don Vaughn convey their half interest to their mother, Mildred E. Vaughn. Recorded vol. 81009, p. 0259.
Open record or reference ↗Vaughn-to-Holden deed, January 29, 1982
Supplied CityDeed_1982.pdf. Repeats the legal parcel and recites the 1962 and 1980 instruments.
Open record or reference ↗Holden-to-Barrera/Lewis deed, July 1988
Supplied CityDeed_1988.pdf. Same parcel; Gilbert Y. Barrera Jr. and Don T. Lewis are grantees.
Open record or reference ↗Barrera/Lewis-to-Kickirillo deed, October 30, 1992
Supplied CityDeed_1992.pdf; vol. 92217, pp. 3680–3681. Establishes the transfer to Dondi Ellen Kickirillo.
Open record or reference ↗Family photographs of the house and garage
Eight supplied photographs, including IMG_1798 2.JPG and IMG_3468.JPG through IMG_3477.JPG. Exact exposure dates and the identity of the J.V. painter are unverified.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1937, printed p. 124
Karl and Ruby Bellew at 1404 S. Polk; Karl associated with Shady Nook and Ruby listed as a waitress there. Original scan inspected; image 124. UNT Libraries / Dallas Public Library.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1937, printed p. 1169
Shady Nook (Karl Bellew), restaurant, 1404 S. Polk Avenue. Original scan inspected; image 1169. The adjacent Northwest Highway cafe is a different business.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1937, printed p. 2004
Classified Restaurants entry: Shady Nook, 1404 S. Polk. Indexed text checked; image 2232. Same publication as 22a-b.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1957, printed p. 1426
Richard and Kathryn Williams; Western Union supervisor; home 1404 S. Polk. Original scan inspected; image 1752.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1961, printed p. 1759
Richard A. and Kathryn W. Williams; supervisor, Western Union Telegraph; home 1404 S. Polk. Original scan inspected; image 2099.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas County QuickLink, individual grantee index, 1956-1962
Navigate: Deeds - Individual; 1956-1962; Grantee; U-V-X-Y-Z; A-Z; image 219 of 395, Vaughn section. Williams-to-Vaughn row references Deed Records Volume 5806, page 338. Original index scan inspected.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas County Deed Records, Volume 5806, pp. 338-340
Original Williams-to-Vaughn deed, June 1, 1962; filed July 2. Page 339 recites the Dec. 1, 1954 William Bailey deed and the Aug. 5, 1949 James Carl Barnard sewer easement. All three scanned pages inspected. Viewer IDs 1106875, 1106876 and 1106877.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas County Deeds, Volume 3175, page 329
Original sewer easement executed Aug. 5, 1949, James Carl and Allene M. Barnard to City of Dallas. Exact Lot 1 / north 16 feet of Lot 2, Block 5159. Original page inspected; viewer ID 3718493.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1933-34, printed p. 311
Karl T. (Ruby), occupation stereo, Dixie Wax Paper Co., residence 1119 Ferndale Avenue. Original scan inspected; image 319.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1936, printed p. 308
Karl T. (Rubye), stereo, Dixie Wax Paper Co., home 1026 S. Tyler Avenue. Original scan inspected; image 324.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1938, printed p. 142
Karl T. (Ruby C.), stereo, Dixie Wax Paper Co., home 908 Nolte Drive. Original scan inspected; image 136.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1939, printed p. 107
Karl T. (Ruby), stereo, Dixie Wax Paper Co., home 2319 Harlandale Avenue. Original scan inspected; image 111.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1938, printed p. 2070
Dixie Wax Paper Co. (Inc.), 1300 S. Polk, under glassine bag manufacturers. Indexed text checked; image 2288.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1938, printed p. 1251
Complete alphabetical Shady group inspected: no Polk restaurant entry; unrelated Northwest Highway service station listed. This is a narrow absence observation, not a comprehensive closure record. Original scan inspected; image 1245.
Open record or reference ↗Dallas City Directory, 1936, printed p. 581
Glenn E. (Ruth) Findley, chemist at Morten Milling Co., home 1135 Elmhurst Place. Original scan inspected; image 597. A candidate household for the Garden Villa notice’s Mrs. G. E. Findley; the match remains unproved.
Open record or reference ↗Tyler Station historian archive
96 supplied files reviewed for house-related context: maps, newspaper material, anniversary booklet, patents and modern scans. Selected images are reproduced with individual captions.
Open record or reference ↗Dixie Wax Paper Company, 25th-anniversary booklet
A Pictorial Report on the Progress of the Dixie Wax Paper Company. Supplied images A485001–A485026. Anniversary span 1922–1947; exact publication date unverified. J. C. Muse, Jr. contributes the retrospective company account.
Open record or reference ↗Sanborn Map Company, Dallas, 1927, sheets 713–714
Supplied Elmwood sheets and index. Scans credit the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. Neighborhood context; no secure modern-house footprint match.
Open record or reference ↗Dixie Wax Paper newspaper advertisement, filed as 1927
Supplied filename 1927 DMN_Dixie Wax Paper_South Dallas_12-26.pdf. Date assigned by filename, not a visible masthead.
Open record or reference ↗Dorothy Huntington anniversary article, filed as 1948
Supplied 1948 DMN_Dixie Wax_25yrs.jpg. Discusses the booklet issued the preceding week; it is not independent confirmation of every story repeated from the booklet.
Open record or reference ↗Dixie Wax Paper advertisement, filed as 1949
Supplied 1949 DMN_Dixie Wax_Ad.jpg, headed 27 Years of Progress. Date is filename-assigned.
Open record or reference ↗U.S. Patent 2,253,036, Means for Sealing Packages
Louie C. Kimple and Floyd Gaines; assigned to Dixie Wax Paper Company. Filed June 2, 1939; patented August 19, 1941. Original patent and drawing scans supplied in the historian archive.
Open record or reference ↗Tyler Station, About Us
Current identification of the former Dixie plant. The page has a 1924/1925 inconsistency; the anniversary booklet specifically assigns the first Polk plant section to 1925.
Open record or reference ↗Bryce Corporation, DIXICO 1922
Further company-history context and a research lead for plant illustrations and company imagery.
Open record or reference ↗Klembara family account
December 2024 acquisition; rehabilitation; June 10, 2026 move-in; present use of the Garden Villa name. Project collaborators and the new white-oak staircase come from the family’s preservation narrative.
Open record or reference ↗No sources match that search. Try a year, name or source number.