Backyard Find - Top O Hill Terrace Tour

Last week Ray, Tom and Linda, Julie, and I visited our own backyard (Arlington TX) for the Top O' Hill  Terrace Tour - touted as Vegas Before Vegas.  What a hoot.  The brochure says Sermons and Hymns now ring across the terraced hills which once hummed with  the playing of slot machines and roulette wheels. 

On the grounds of the current Arlington Baptist College, glamorous celebrities enjoyed gambling, music, liquor, and more (think ladies of the night) in the 1930s and 40s.  The tea room founded in the 1920s on a terraced hill in Arlington, was bought by Fred Browning and turned into "the place  to be". Underground tunnels were dug for escape, guards at the front gate could sound an  alarm system, and rich folks could romp in splendor. 

Alas, a fiery Baptist preacher, Dr. J. Frank Norris decided to ruin the fun and made it a mission to have police  raids,  etc to rid Tarrant County of this palace of sin. Sinners vs. saints.  The Baptists ended up winning. 

 Much was destroyed and removed. Fortunately under current leadership and with a  lot of research that continues today, the history is being acknowledged and the story told by Mrs. Vicky Branch. An impressive woman, she is telling  the tale with a nifty power point show and tour of grounds. Folks keep adding  to  her information too. One  man was a kid who helped his bootlegging father bring the booze onto the grounds. A lot of nifty tidbits plus the names - Sally Rand, Clark Gable, HL Hunt, Gloria Swanson, John Wayne, Gene Autry, et al - are presented with humor. 

We enjoyed our two hour tour and  were amazed at what  occurred in our own  backyard.  Now, go have a Saturday adventure of your own.!