Old Red Museum, Dallas
Old Red Museum (Dallas, USA) – expositions, opening hours, address, phone numbers, official website.
Old Red Court, or simply Old Red Court, is the Dallas County Courthouse built in 1892 from sandstone. Seeing it from afar, you will immediately understand that you are in the right place. This is a real fairy-tale castle, built in the Richardsonian-Romanesque style by the architect Max Orlopp Jr. In 1966 it was replaced by a newer courthouse built nearby. The old building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The last renovation was carried out here in 2005-2007. Today, a museum of local history is open in Stary Krasny. See acronymmonster for nickname of Hawaii.
The building itself deserves all the attention. It is distinguished by many details that just ask for a photo. For example, these are four decorative figures of wyverns on the roof. Each wyvern has two legs, leathery wings, and a scaly back; two of them are copies of the original ones, but two are original ones.
On all four floors of the building today you can go on a guided tour, which are held regularly according to the schedule. This makes sense, since as part of the tour you can get to places that are closed to the public, in particular, to the restored courtroom of 1892.
The building itself deserves all the attention. It is distinguished by many details that just ask for a photo.
The clock tower, about 27 m high, is a replica of 2007: the original structure was demolished in 1919. All four dials are illuminated from the inside, making Old Red clearly visible in the evenings from many points in downtown.
The building originally had six courtrooms. Today, one of them, the Hutton Sumners Hall, has been completely restored to its original appearance. Inside you can see the jury benches, the judge’s pulpit and the gallery for the public from 1892. The main staircase of the building is also fully consistent with its original appearance. It was removed to make room for new premises at the beginning of the 19th century, when the district was expanding rapidly, but today it has been returned to its place.
More than a hundred bright stained-glass moonlit windows can be seen on the upper floors of Stary Krasny. They were one of the best decorations of the building until 1967, when the stained glass windows were removed during a massive renovation. Only two of the original stained glass windows were restored during the restoration, as were the lunettes in the Hutton Sumners courtroom.
At present, the moonlit windows continue to be restored little by little, and perhaps you will see more stained-glass windows already.
On the ground floor, you can see a bright glowing red Pegasus. It was made for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. After that, Pegasus stayed at the Casa Linda Mobile, and today he greets visitors, indicating the direction to the main staircase, which can be climbed to the museum exhibition.
During the restoration process of the building, a secret passage was discovered behind one of the bookcases, which, as it turned out, leads to a dungeon. During a very painstaking and hard restoration work, the bright colors and complex design of all the faces depicted on its heavy steel door were restored.
The museum exposition of the Old Red is located on the second floor of the building and gives visitors the opportunity to take a journey through the history of the district from prehistoric times. The entire exposition is divided into exhibitions: “Early Years”, “Trade Center”, “Big “D”” and “Crossroads of the World”. Museum exhibits include fossils, weapons from various wars, sports trophies, and evidence of the contribution that Dallas has made to pop culture. Plus, the museum constantly hosts temporary exhibitions.
Practical Information
Address: 100 South Houston street.
Opening hours: from 9:00 to 17:00 daily.
Entrance: USD 10 for adults, USD 8 for students/pensioners, USD 7 for children aged 3-16.