State Fair Hours
Beginning Friday, September 27, 2024, The Hall of State will be open daily 10 AM – 7 PM during the run of the State Fair of Texas. The Historical Society’s offices and research library will be open by appointment only during the fair.
State Fair Hours
The Hall of State and The Dallas Historical Society’s exhibits are free and open to the public, with a State Fair admission.
7 Days a week:
10:00 AM – 7:00 PM
(entrance to the exhibits will close at 6:45 PM)
Our Exhibits
The Hall of State (State of Texas Building) was constructed by the State of Texas as an exhibition hall to commemorate the Texas Centennial in 1936. It reflects the physical, social and economic development of our region at that time. It has five exhibit spaces: the Great Hall, the East Texas, West Texas, North and South Texas rooms, as well as a concourse dedicated to the heroes of Texas and a 400-seat auditorium. Listed below are the exhibits currently on display in each space, as well as a brief description of the art and architecture featured in each room.
The Great Hall
Sept 27 – Oct. 20, 2024
Cardstacker Bryan Berg
The Hall of State is one of the most celebrated focal points of Fair Park in Dallas. In the company of the Alamo and the state capital, the Hall of State is one of the most historic buildings in the entire state of Texas. During the 2024 State Fair of Texas, step into the Hall of State and witness a jaw-dropping spectacle as Guinness World Record-Holder Bryan Berg demonstrates his incredible card-stacking skills! Watch in awe as Bryan Berg the Card Stacker meticulously balances and builds towering Texas icons using only a deck of cards, defying gravity with every delicate placement
The Great Hall’s interior height is as tall as a four-story building. It measures forty-six feet high, ninety-four feet long, and sixty-eight feet wide. The columns are reeded Cordova cream shell stone, a quarried Texas Limestone.
The far wall is dominated by an impressive gold medallion measuring twelve feet in diameter. Joseph E. Renier, a Yale artist and faculty member, created the design for this immense bas-relief and finished it in three shades of burnished gold leaf. The center portion of the medallion is a five-pointed star, the perpetual emblem of Texas. Bathed in a flood of rays from the star are six symbolic female figures, which unfold the history of Texas under the sovereignty of six nations. The entrance to the hall has these nations flags on display.
Two of the ceiling’s four designs are stylized animals typical of the Southwest — a roadrunner with a rattlesnake in its bill and a nine-banded armadillo. The other two are abstractions, one representing the land and the other the sea, in which the artist used color alone to help viewers interpret their meaning. Both sides of the floor are decorated with mosaics showcasing examples of native Texas Fauna.
Eugene Savage’s grand Byzantine-style murals span the north and south walls, recapturing the thrilling tale of Texas history from the 1500’s through 1936. The mural to the left of the medallion is called “Early Texas: History of Texas” while the mural to the right focuses on “The State of Texas — Texas Today.”
The Hall of Heroes
Sept 27 – Oct. 20, 2024
Historic Playing Cards
As World Record-Holder Bryan Berg the Card Stacker meticulously balances and builds 7 iconic Texas buildings and monuments, The Dallas Historical Society will be displaying historic decks of playing cards from our collection. This collection includes a Mexican-American War-themed deck from 1848.
The bronze front doors open into a semi-circular hall holding six bronze statues. These six statesmen and soldiers, creators of the Texas Republic, typify the true Texas spirit. Texas historians preparing for the 1936 Texas Centennial chose the heroes: Austin, Houston, Lamar, Fannin, Rusk, and Travis. Sculptor Pompeo Coppini captured each in a characteristic stance or at a decisive moment in his life.
The floors are pink Tennessee marble bordered with St. Aubern’s Red and inlaid with squares of Red Levanto, both from Vermont. The wainscot is Rossetta marble from Italy.
The East Texas Room
Opening Sept 27
Give Us a Flag to Fight Under
Flags have played an important role in the history of Texas. They have served as rallying points, inspirational beacons, and symbolic banners. The use of flags dates back to the ancient world where standards and heraldic banners designation opposing armies, territorial rights, and family ties.
On display is a collection of replica flags that were presented to the Dallas Historical Society by the family of Mr. and Mrs. Joe M. Dealey, Jr. to commemorate the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial. The flags were given in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Joe M. Dealey, Sr.
Design Your Own Texas Flag
In conjunction with the Flags of Texas exhibit, the Dallas Historical Society is inviting students from all over the state to show us what Texas means to them, by designing their own Texas Flag.
Use the provided form to create a flag that represents what Texas means to you. Use color and be creative. Turn in your flag at the collection box at the Vexilology exhibit or scan it and email it to education@dallashistory.org. Selected examples will be displayed during the State Fair of Texas and in January, DHS staff will select their favorite examples to be featured on the Dallas Historical website and social media accounts.
The East Texas room is decorated with dark wood paneling made from the East Texas sweet gum tree. The two murals in this room are by Olin Travis, a native Dallas artist, and depict “East Texas of Today, Before and After the Discovery of Oil”. In addition to these colorful murals, Polly Smith’s photographs, which depict East Texas lifestyles, line the paneled walls.
The West Texas Room
G.B. Dealey Library
The G.B. Dealey Library will be closed for in-person research from September 1, 2024, through November 4, 2024, due to the State Fair of Texas. However, we will still be accepting online research requests and questions at research@dallashistory.org during that time
In the West Texas room, large hand-hewn wooden beams span the ceiling and the adobe walls are decorated with relief sculptures of famous cattle brands used in Texas. At the far end of the room sits a carved statue of a cowboy by Dorothy Austin of Dallas in front of a wall covered with matched hair-covered cowhides laced together with rawhide strips. Two murals by Tom Lea in this room depict a cowboy and a pioneer family. The tiled panels and floor by Ethel Wilson Harris and Lucile Carmona depict archetypal West Texas people.
The North Texas Room
Texana Exhibit
Items from the Dallas Historical Society’s Texana Collection will be on display. This rotating collection features artifacts from the early colonial, revolutionary, republic and early statehood of Texas.
The North Texas room is adorned with Lynn Ford’s carved wood figures representing cotton and wheat. Arthur Starr Niendorff, a native Texan who grew up in Dallas, executed the fresco mural above the north doors depicting “Old Man Texas”. The photographs that line the walls of this room are pressed on glass and are the work of photographer Polly Smith.
The South Texas Room
Battle of the Alamo Interactive Diorama
Created by Pennsylvania-based artist Thomas Feely, Jr. over 18 years and stretching across 336 square feet, the Texas Liberty Forever! diorama is the largest depiction of its kind and serves as the centerpiece of the Battle of the Alamo Exhibit at the Hall of State. The re-creation of the besieged Alamo compound features over 2,000 hand-painted figures sculpted in 1/32 scale (54 mm).
The South Texas room is elegant with its black Pyrenees marble wainscoting, white gold wall panels, polished aluminum lighting fixtures, and terrazzo floors. Above the wainscoting are eight figures spaced on shields between the windows. The shape of each design is in Spanish Baroque style, and each represents an important aspect of life in South Texas. Lynn Ford’s wood carvings symbolize the concepts of history and romance. Additionally, James Owen Mahoney, Jr.’s allegorical painting in this room presents South Texas as an enchanting goddess in the form of a beautiful young girl.
Margaret & Al Hill Lecture Hall
October 29 | 6:30 PM
An Evening With! Joe R. Lansdale
Join the Dallas Historical Society for An Evening With Joe R. Lansdale on Tuesday, October 29, at 6:30 pm. The legendary author has written over 50 novels, over 30 short story collections, and comics, television, and film scripts. His stories have won ten Bram Stoker Awards, a British Fantasy Award, an Edgar Award, a World Horror Convention Grand Master Award, a Sugarprize, a Grinzane Cavour Prize for Literature, a Spur Award, and a Raymond Chandler Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a member of The Texas Literary Hall of Fame.
This 392-seat auditorium retains its Art Deco styling and furnishings from its opening in 1936 as a performance space. Currently it serves as a lecture space for the Dallas Historical Society’s public programming.
Support History
Click on the links below to learn more about how you can support the Dallas Historical Society