Dallas County has opened an exhibit highlighting local culture and history. "Legacy Dallas" can be seen for free in the lobby of the Dallas County Records Building.
"We want to not just preserve our history because that's stagnant," says David Biegler, chairman of the Old Red Courthouse, Inc. "We want to tell our history."
The exhibit includes Pegasus, the winged horse from Greek mythology, that first appeared at the top of Dallas' Magnolia Hotel in 1934. The exhibit also includes one of the first frozen margarita machines used by Mariano Martinez.
"It's what makes Dallas Dallas," says Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia. "I think, Mariano, the margarita machine we have here is one of a kind because the other is in the Smithsonian."
Martinez invented the margarita machine in 1971 and gave the first machine to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
"It went on display right next to Julia Child's kitchen," Martinez said Thursday. "I'm proud of that, and I'm also very proud to have the world's second margarita machine right here where more Dallas people can come by and enjoy it."
Martinez says he decided he wanted to become an inventor in sixth grade when learning about others.
"To a kid, I'd say imagination, curiosity is always a great thing for children. I was the kind of kid, as soon as I'd open my Christmas presents, I'd take everything apart and see how it worked," he says.
Also part of the exhibit is Trini Lopez' guitar. Lopez had 16 songs make the top 40 in the 1960s. Lopez was born and raised in Dallas, dropping out of high school to go to work.
"This is very exciting, He's spiritually here," says his nephew, Robert Diaz. "He always loved Dallas. Dallas was good to him. He made a very big decision in 1961 that he was going to go to Los Angeles. He was going to find a job, get there and perform. All of a sudden in 1964 at a club called PJs, he was performing with his trio. The next thing you know, here comes Frank Sinatra and Don Costa, who's a producer. Frank had heard about this kid, and Don Costa said, 'I've been here a couple times. This kid is good. This kid is live.'"
Diaz says Sinatra would ultimately become a mentor for Lopez, but when Lopez first met him, Lopez told Diaz, "I was so nervous, I didn't want to look at him. I decided to play. I kept playing my song list." The next day, Lopez says his manager called saying Sinatra was asking for a meeting.
"That's how it all began for him. Then all of a sudden, the big album, Trini Lopez at PJs took off. 'If I had a Hammer' was a folk song, he did his rendition which was like Latin rock. That hit the Billboard. It was just overwhelming," Diaz says.
Lopez would move to California. He died in 2020.
Diaz says the Palm Springs Historical Society contacted his family last year about opening a permanent exhibit at the Village Green Heritage Center.
"His legacy continues in Palm Springs, and his legacy continues here. This is great what the county has done. This is fantastic. This is a place to come. This is really nice," he says.
The earliest parts of the exhibit include weaponry left around the Trinity River by hunter gatherers dating as early as 12,000 BC. Also on display is a bill showing the Confederate government owed a woman $1,592 for ferrying Confederate soldiers across the Trinity. People can also see furniture and clothing used by pioneers who settled the area in the 1840s and saddles made by Schoellkopf Saddlery in Dallas starting in 1869.
More recent items include Dallas Cowboys memorabilia and a hat signed by Tom Landry. A part of the exhibit dedicated to the television show, Dallas, includes a hat worn by Larry Hagman as JR Ewing in Dallas and a board game about the show.
"We all have heard the old adage, 'If you don't remember history, you're doomed to repeat it,' which I think is a very pessimistic way of looking at it. There's a lot of history we need not repeat," he says. "There's a bigger part of our history we need to remember so we're sure we repeat it."
Biegler says historical groups started talking about setting up this exhibit 30 years ago.
"You'll learn of the people who built this place," Biegler says. "Dallas County is Dallas County, and it got there by the determination, the will, the culture, the ethos of people who said we want a better life. That comes out over and over and over again."
The exhibit will stay on display permanently in the lobby of the Dallas County Records Building in Downtown Dallas. More information is available here.
