Bonton is a historically African-American neighborhood in South Dallas , Texas. The area, zip code 75215, is bounded by Hatcher St. and S Central Expressway to the North and West, respectively, and goes as far as Municipal St. and Donald St. to its East and South. Lauren Woods and Cynthia Mulcahy, artists/researchers, put forth in their Dallas Historical Parks Project, that the name "Bon Ton" is possibly to be derived from the French expression " bon ton ," translating to high society, fashionable manner, or style. This was a popular adjective in black society in the early 20th century. Advertisements in local black newspapers like The Dallas Express , used the phrase "High Classed, Bon Ton, Restricted Residences for Negroes" to describe the new housing developments in this area of South Dallas. Bonton was also once closely linked to the black arts and culture district called Deep Ellum , as a direct road originally connected the two areas. The two main racial groups represented in the neighborhood are African Americans and Hispanics, with the former constituting over 75% of the population. Many of Bonton's residents are disadvantaged, with 42.9% of the populace falling below the poverty line and 65% failing to complete high school or achieve an equivalent degree. As factors like these contributed to rising incidents of crime and other social ills, the battle to revitalize the area was born, one that still rages today.
26-518: Bonton may refer to: Bonton, Dallas , neighborhood in Dallas, Texas Bonton Group , a media/entertainment holding company A brand name for Lorazepam See also [ edit ] Bon Ton (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Bonton . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
52-483: A 7,000-seat worship center in Plano. Services were first held on May 2, 1999. The church continued to expand its facilities throughout the next decade. Soon after the opening of the new worship center, the first phase of the new Prestonwood Sports and Fitness Center was completed. In August 2003, the church completed the second phase of the building, which featured a new chapel, a 100-foot-tall (30m) "Faith Tower" topped by
78-474: A 7,000-seat worship center, a school offering Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (including a football stadium, a baseball field, and a fieldhouse for basketball and volleyball), a fitness center with outdoor sports fields, a café, a library, and a bookstore. In 2006, the church expanded to include a second campus of nearly 128 acres (0.200 sq mi; 0.518 km ) in Prosper. The North Campus also has
104-612: A cross, a student ministry area, restaurant and commons, additional space for Bible fellowship and administrative offices. Two years later, the Prestonwood Christian Academy Upper School opened on the west side of the church campus. The church reached the 46,000-member mark in 2019, with regular attendance at worship services averaging around 17,000. In June of 1989, after a youth music minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church admitted to church officials that he had molested at least one student in
130-428: A key player in the effort to revive Bonton. In March 2013, the organization pledged $ 100 million to refurbish or build 1000 homes in Dallas' five poorest neighborhoods, including Bonton, in their Dream Dallas Initiative. The scope of this project can be seen in the fact that in the past 25 years of its existence, Habitat for Humanity has only spent $ 95 million on building/refurbishing homes; it will spend $ 5 million more on
156-482: A negative reputation for crime in the dominant culture's media that continues even today. This can be seen in the fact that the first mention of the neighborhood in The Dallas Morning News depicts a gang leader shooting an individual for liquor. In the 1940s, it became even more difficult for minorities, especially African Americans, to find adequate housing, as the quality of what was available in
182-484: A ruling issued on the GI Bill forbade all former servicemen from renting apartments from landlords practicing discrimination. Turner Courts refused to change its ways in a 1968 Dallas Morning News article, declaring that "segregation [was] a way of life" in the housing project and that no, "dramatic change [could be seen] because there [weren't] many Negros here who [were] able to sustain a long and costly lawsuit to force
208-636: A school (K-10 as of fall 2020 with plans to expand one grade each year, so that the Class of 2023 will be North's first graduating class). Prestonwood was founded on February 6, 1977, in North Dallas, as a mission church of Northway Baptist Church. Under founding pastor Bill Weber, the new church grew considerably, and in 1979 moved into a permanent facility near the corner of Arapaho and Hillcrest Roads in Dallas. By 1988, Prestonwood had grown to 11,000 members. In October of that year, Dr. Weber resigned and
234-569: A statement of Turner Courts' objectives in 1962, the Dallas Housing Authority states that the housing project was designated specifically and exclusively for low-income African American families. Although city-sanctioned separation initially existed in Turner Courts, the housing project also went as far as to flout later anti-segregation laws, thus perpetuating the condition. This defiant behavior can be seen in 1968, after
260-450: Is a movement to revitalize Bonton. This effort is spearheaded by BridgeBuilders, a nonprofit Christian organization (under the auspices of Prestonwood Baptist Church ) that claims in its mission statement to work to “restore urban communities through education, health, economic development, and spiritual development.” Founded by the late Mike Fechner and Velma Mitchell, the former from an affluent neighborhood in mostly white North Dallas and
286-406: Is a well-researched case study that explores "more than 150 years of Dallas history... [revealing] how white business leaders created both a white racial identity and a Southwestern regional identity that excluded African Americans from power and required Mexican Americans and Jews to adopt Anglo-American norms to achieve what limited positions of power they held. In the 1940s, a nationwide movement
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#1732794153358312-487: The Dream Dallas Initiative in just 2013-2014. Dream Dallas will also focus on reducing crime, facilitating access to public transportation, improving education, providing medical services, promoting development of retail services, and will partner with existing community programs. The Bonton Neighborhood Association, founded by community members Clifton Reese and Velma Mitchell, facilitates residents of
338-720: The Queen City neighborhood just north of Bonton and continued, despite protests and petitions to the Governor pleading for the State to step in. The bombings only ceased when the City finally decided to start making arrests—although no one was ever convicted of the crimes. Jim Schutze's book, "The Accommodation" is the most thorough publication documenting this history of the South Dallas bombings. "White Metropolis" by Michael Philips
364-528: The area was subpar. As a result, many attempted to spread beyond their racially segregated and overpopulated neighborhoods. The violent backlash that erupted against them was experienced throughout Dallas. Beginning in 1940, white residents began a terror campaign of bombing the newly acquired homes of black residents in traditionally white neighborhoods. This campaign ended only with the United States' entry into World War II. The bombings resumed in 1950 in
390-423: The crime level in Turner Courts, or “clean up” the area, with a security system of patrols in 1984. The attempt to save the housing project, however, was abandoned in 2009 when it was torn down. In 2012, ground was broken on a new housing complex, Buckeye Trail Commons, which includes aspects such as a community garden and 25 homes for sale in an attempt to provide opportunities to its inhabitants. Currently, there
416-406: The issue" or to effectively challenge the authority of the housing unit. Secondly, and most importantly, Turner Courts brought a new intensity and volume to the crime of Bonton. Bonton, along with South Dallas, became so infamous for its crime, that it was used as a benchmark that other areas strove to avoid. A study done of the area in 1969 attributes the increased level of crime to poverty and to
442-599: The late 1980s; he was terminated immediately. Since church officials failed to report it to the authorities (as was required under the State Family Code), he was able to go on to become a youth music minister at a church in Mississippi. Unfortunately, he was later accused of abusing young boys again. In May of 2008, an associate minister at Prestonwood was arrested for soliciting sex from a 13-year-old girl. Two days later, Senior Pastor Jack Graham addressed
468-554: The latter a Bonton native, H.I.S. BridgeBuilders works to build connections through Jesus Christ that are strong enough to bridge sociocultural differences. The work of the organization manifests in the South Dallas community in various ways including employment training and mentoring programs, which are then followed by a job placement program. Affordable healthcare is provided in optical, dental and counseling clinics, and meaningful relationships are built through regular community outreach opportunities. Habitat for Humanity has also been
494-414: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bonton&oldid=1188009349 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bonton, Dallas Based on historical maps showing the development of
520-705: The neighborhood in taking pride in their homes and creating an environment in which they want to live. Prestonwood Baptist Church Prestonwood Baptist Church is a Baptist multi-site megachurch based in Plano, Texas . It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention . It is one of the largest churches in America, with a membership of over 45,000 and a weekly attendance of around 17,000. The Plano campus covers an area of 140 acres (0.219 sq mi; 0.567 km ), and includes
546-455: The region, the effort to build Bonton spanned from 1919 through the 1940s. The neighborhood's early history, however, is virtually unrecorded. What is known about these days derives from word of mouth from Bonton natives and local Black newspapers. Residents frame this beginning period of Bonton's history as the area's golden age where feelings of camaraderie and mutual respect governed the neighborhood. Even as early as 1932, however, Bonton earned
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#1732794153358572-651: The scandal from the pulpit. In his address, Dr. Graham said the accused associate minister had been terminated. In March of 2013, a decade-long church member was ordered off church premises and reported to the police as a 'suspicious person" because of an earlier incident. Prestonwood operates two church campuses: Plano (the Plano Campus, which houses full services in both English and Spanish , as well as smaller fellowships to other ethnic groups) and Prosper (the North Campus). The Lewisville branch of
598-452: The transitory nature of the population and housing. These patterns of crime and segregation continued until the 1980s, when Turner Courts began to be viewed as an embarrassment to the otherwise booming city. The Housing Projects were referred to as exemplifications of the “paradox of Dallas”; the deteriorating, crime-filled projects jumped out against the backdrop of Downtown's skyscrapers. In response to this feeling, Dallas attempted to reduce
624-400: Was named in honor J.L. Turner Sr., one of the first practicing black attorneys in the state. The unit was composed of apartments of various sizes open to low income families who were billed rent based on their level of income. Turner Courts, however, developed into a negative influence on the community of Bonton. Firstly, it reinforced the de facto segregation that existed in South Dallas. In
650-422: Was replaced in mid-1989 by Dr. Jack Graham as senior pastor of Prestonwood. By this time, Prestonwood was considered a "megachurch" because of its rapid expansion into one of the fastest-growing churches in the United States. By the mid-1990s, it became apparent that the church had outgrown its north Dallas home; the facility was landlocked with no ability to expand. In 1994, the church's leadership began plans for
676-562: Was seen within the African American population as they migrated from rural areas to cities such as Dallas. The influx of people, combined with the relative poverty that afflicted the population, compounded the preexisting housing problem of the city of Dallas. The city solved this problem by constructing a series of five housing projects. Originally intended to house 294 families as the city's third public housing unit specifically for African Americans, Turner Courts opened in 1952 and
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