{"nrhp_refnum":"74002068","name":"Swiss Avenue Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Swiss Ave. between Fitzhugh and LaVista","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dallas","county":"Dallas County","state":"TX","lat":32.80703047350005,"lon":-96.76376617829052,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-03-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district along Swiss Avenue between Fitzhugh and La Vista in Dallas, Texas, about 57.1 acres, laid out as part of the Munger Place subdivision starting in 1905. It contains roughly 200 houses, most built in the 1910s and 1920s.","why_significant":"Swiss Avenue was the focal point of Munger Place, Dallas's early exclusive residential development, and is the only part of it that kept its neighborhood integrity. It holds a wide variety of early 20th century house styles unified by setbacks, height and brick. Munger Place was described as the first restricted development in Texas, using deed restrictions on cost, construction and siting.","narrative":"Swiss Avenue in Dallas is a tree-lined boulevard with a landscaped parkway, running between Fitzhugh and La Vista. It was the centerpiece of Munger Place, a 140-acre subdivision announced in 1905 by cotton gin manufacturer R. S. Munger and meant to be an exclusive residential district. The first house, built that year at 5303 Swiss by Dr. R. W. Baird, was a Classical Revival mansion; most of roughly 200 homes followed in the 1910s and 1920s. Sixteen or more styles appear, among them Georgian Revival, Jacobethan, Queen Anne, Italian villa and Prairie-influenced designs. Brick construction, equal setbacks and common height give the street its unity. Deed restrictions set cost minimums, two-story height and deep setbacks, and are described as the first restricted development in Texas. Early residents included bankers, merchants, physicians and a former mayor. The avenue is the only part of Munger Place that kept its neighborhood character, and the city adopted a historic zoning ordinance for it. A relocated 1884 Victorian house was later added as a contributing element.","period_of_significance":"20th Century (specific date 1905)","architect_builder":"Houses by various builders and architects, including Lang and Witchell (Higginbotham House) and Hal B. Thompson (5500 Swiss); R. S. Munger developed Munger Place","architectural_style":"Variety of early 20th century styles (at least sixteen), including Classical Revival, Jacobethan/Tudor, Georgian Revival, Prairie, Queen Anne, Italian villa and Spanish Renaissance","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked excellent and altered; present use is private residence, with the property occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.564008-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/9716/40971691/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/74002068.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002068/18d2d5802e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002068/18d2d5802e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"Renelibrary, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swiss_Avenue_Historic_District1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971691","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Avenue_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7658849"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/dallas-county/swiss-avenue-historic-district-74002068/"}