"From Jerusalem to Mexico down Akard Street": Remembering the house of faith that 2 sets of Dallas immigrants shared
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — In the center of Dallas, along streets where the American Airlines Center and the Perot Museum now sit, you'll find few signs of the old neighborhood.
"We are standing on sacred and hallowed ground," said local historian Juanita Nanez in the area known—during overlapping periods of Dallas history—as both Little Mexico and Little Jerusalem.
"There used to be a saying: you can walk all the way from Jerusalem to Mexico down Akard Street," said Nanez.
A new state historical marker unveiled Friday aims to preserve the neighborhood's significance.
It tells the story of a building that served two different sets of immigrants.
"On each side, coming down from the steeple is a window, a beautiful window and it's got the Star of David on it," said Norma Lopez, describing a picture of Primera Iglesia Bautista (First Mexican Baptist Church), the church her grandparents helped found in Dallas in 1918.
Mexico, at the time, was in the midst of a revolution, and families were fleeing the violence. Most were Catholic, but some were Protestant and needed a home church, too.
"Right here you can see it says 'escuela,'" said Lopez, pointing out details of the church. "They set up a school for kids in transition."
The building was first a synagogue established in 1913 by Jewish families fleeing religious persecution in eastern Europe.
The Star of David in each window is a lasting symbol of their time in the building.
"There was an open door at that time to come to America, and it allowed them a land of opportunity," said Beri Kaplan Schwitzer with the Dallas Jewish Historical Society.
Many descendants of the Anshe Sphard Congregation, she says, remain in Dallas today. "They were the kind of Jews that were called 'shomer Shabbos.' They would walk to their community, they remained in their community."
When the synagogue moved in search of a larger space, its congregation moved with it.
"They rented their homes to the incoming Mexican population that was coming to Dallas," said Lopez.
In Little Mexico, the Hispanic community thrived, and for decades, it remained a gathering place for generations of families.
"That was a place everybody went and you could celebrate your heritage," said Lopez.
Eventually, though, urban growth took over.
"It scattered everybody," said Lopez.
"This is very emotional to me and meaningful. Because it's the story of my grandparents," said Nanez, at the site of the marker in Harry Hines Triangle Park.
It tells the story of Dallas, too, and those who helped build it.
"Having to restart, that takes tough people," said Nanez.
Now it is a story future generations can remember as well.
"We want them to know the determination, tenacity, and resilience that flows through their veins," said Nanez.