Frisco Off The Beaten Path

The first five shows of the TV series "Dallas" back in April 1978 used aerial footage of the "Southfork ranch" which was an actual ranch building on the Brinkman Ranch in Frisco, Texas. Then the house they used burned down. The owner hastily started to rebuild it.

But the producers of the show needed to have the some footage of the ranch house before he could finish it. Or they didn't think it could be finished in time so the location was changed to "Southfork" in Parker TX. The owner of the Brinkman ranch just stopped rebuilding at that point and has left it half finished.

My daughter saw it and thought it was some kind of open air pavillion.

There is an inset in the picture so you can see that you can look right through the house. You can drive by the ranch which is still a working ranch, and you can see the house from the road. The "Southfork" ranch in Parker TX IS open to the public - however this one is not.

The website shows views of the ranch from the original shows.

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When I first visited Dallas, I was impressed with the many sculptures around town. The Mustangs of Los Colinas impressed me a great deal. So when our daughter moved to Frisco, I asked her whether she had ever seen them. but she had not. But she did bring us here and to other outdoor art areas in Frisco, and then we went down into Dallas itself to see Trammel Crow's Pioneer Plaza cattle drive.

My feeling about this sculpture group is that it is an interesting idea - lively and informative, but the individual statues are not very well proportioned.

When my great niece was sending 'Flat Jillian' around for pictures, I decided to take her here with my granddaughter. I think the cowboy where we took the picture is a good illustration of the proportion problem. His legs are tiny in relation to the rest of the piece.

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I had seen the sculptures at Irwin and downtown Dallas, so I asked my daughter about sculpture in Frisco. We went to look at the stampede sculpture and also passed by the sculpture garden at Hall Office Park. This is a private collection of the work of 38 prominent Texas artists located in the Hall Office Park. It is the largest private collection of contemporary Texas sculpture ever assembled and made available to the public.

The art is set among winding walking trails, lush landscaping, lakes and fountains specially designed to complement the art and provide a fitting backdrop for the work. We took our granddaughter here on a nice day and she had a good time running around and finding the animal sculptures. The H.O.P. Rabbits are named for the place - Hall Office Park is abbreviated H.O.P.

It is one-half mile north of SH 121 just off Dallas Parkway in Frisco, Texas within the Hall Office Park development. Exterior collection open daily dawn to dusk. There are also some exhibits inside 6801 Gaylord.

McKinney has over 1,700 historic homes and buildings and the town has earned a listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Apart from its history, there are also more than 100 specialty shops, antique stores and restaurants in and around the historic downtown area. There is also a 289acre Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary which for the life of me I couldn’t find.

McKinney is just east of Frisco, on the other side of I-75.

Just wanted to clear up info on South Fork Ranch in Frisco. Dallas was filmed at Box Ranch in (now Brinkman Ranch) 1978. After the first season filming was moved to the Duncan Ranch in Parker Texas. The original house on the Box ranch burned to the ground in 1986. At the time of the fire, filming had already been ceased at Box Ranch and moved to Parker 8 Years Prior. The fire was started when a 5 gallon can of paint caught fire. Mr. Box started rebuilding the house but never finished it. The shell of the rebuilt house still stands on the Brinkman Ranch at the corner of Preston Rd. and Main Street in Frisco.