Pioneer Plaza is a large public park located in the Convention Center District of downtown

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

(

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). It contains a large sculpture and is a heavily visited tourist site. Adjacent to the plaza is the Pioneer Park Cemetery which features the Confederate War Memorial. Together, it is the largest public open space in the Dallas central business district. 6666 Ranch larger photo

History

The land on which the plaza sits, once railroad and warehouse property, was cleared for the -tall hotel and office Dallas Tower which was part of the failed Griffin Square development. The plaza and its accompanying sculpture were the idea of real estate developer

Trammell Crow Fred Trammell Crow (June 10, 1914 – January 14, 2009) was an American real estate developer from Dallas, Texas. He is credited with the creation of several major real estate projects, including the Dallas Market Center, Peachtree Center in Atla ...

, who wanted an iconic "Western" sculpture in the city of Dallas and assembled a group to donate the sculptures. The $9 million project was begun in 1992 on of land donated by the City of Dallas; $4.8 million of the cost came from private funds raised from individuals and local businesses.http://www.texastreesfoundation.org/about.html Texas Trees Foundation, retrieved 01-11-10 Local artists sued to stop the project and claimed that it was historically inaccurate for the city, but the project opened on time in 1994 Today the park is maintained by the adjacent Dallas Convention Center and is the second most visited tourist attraction in downtown Dallas. As a work in progress, an additional steer is occasionally added to the herd.

Sculpture

The large sculpture commemorates nineteenth century cattle drives that took place along the Shawnee Trail, the earliest and easternmost route by which Texas longhorn cattle were taken to northern railheads. The trail passed through Austin,

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

, and Dallas until the

Chisolm Trail The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the post-American Civil War, Civil War era to Cattle drive, drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas wikt:railhead, railheads. The trail was established by Black Beaver, a Lenape guide and ran ...

siphoned off most of the traffic in 1867. The 49 bronze steers and 3 trail riders

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

were created by artist

Robert Summers Robert Summers (June 22, 1922 – April 17, 2012) was an American economist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught from 1960. A widely cited early work by Summers is on the small-sample statistical properties of alternate ...

Glen Rose, Texas Glen Rose is a city in and the county seat of Somervell County, Texas, United States. As of the 2012 census estimate, the city population was 2,502. History 19th century The area was first settled in 1849 by Charles Barnard, who opened a tradin ...

. Each steer is larger-than-life at six feet high; all together the sculpture is the largest bronze monument of its kind in the world. Set along an artificial ridge and past a man-made limestone cliff, native landscaping with a flowing stream and waterfall help create the dramatic effect.

References

External links

Pioneer Plaza Description
{{Downtown Dallas Parks in Dallas Downtown Dallas Buildings and structures in Dallas History of Dallas Landmarks in Dallas Public art in Dallas