SHARROCK / NIBLO PARK DALLAS, TEXAS

HISTORY

The Sharrock/Niblo property was part of the Peters Colony settlement; this was a land grant made in 1841 by the Republic of Texas to William Smalling Peters and partners, to colonize a significant area of North Texas including the south-eastern portion of Dallas County. Colonists were provided with land allotments of 320 acres (single men) and 640 acres (families) with requirements that they must reside on and improve the land. The Peter Colony settlers arrived in North Texas in early 1842 and settlement continued until 1848 when the colonys contract (then with the State of Texas) expired.

John Neely Bryan settled on the east bank of the Trinity River in November 1841 shortly before the arrival of the Peters colonists in the area. Bryan had the land surveyed for a townsite in 1844, and the town began to develop. When Dallas County was formed by the State of Texas in 1846, Dallas was designated as the temporary County seat; it was confirmed by voters as the permanent seat in 1850. The 1850 Federal Census for Dallas County noted the county population at 2,370; this included 395 Peters Colony settlers and the new town of Dallas having a population of 430.

Everard Sharrock Jr. Everard Sharrock Sr., his wife Amy Stevens Sharrock, five of their children (including son Everard Sharrock Jr.) and their families relocated from Illinois to North Texas with the Peters Colony in 1846. Texas was formally admitted to the union on December 29, 1845 and on March 30, 1846, Dallas County was established; the Sharrock family thus moved to the new State of Texas, and Dallas County. Everard Jr. was granted 640 acres of land through in the Cedar Bluff area of southwest the county. Based on Sharrock family history, Everard Sharrock Sr.s daughter Amy Catherine was born October 27, 1847 in a log cabin at this site. As the subject log cabin is the only log cabin at the site, this is thought to be the cabin constructed by Everard Sharrock Jr. sometime in 1847, and occupied by him and his family on or before October 27, 1847. Everard Jr., his wife Sarah Elizabeth Robbins Sharrock, daughter Amy, sons George Alvey and Charles Augustus farmed the land and are presumed to have also constructed the log barn, the cellar and dug the well on the site.

Sharrock / Niblo - History

February 11, 2012

Later property owners Everard Sharrock Jr. and family members left Dallas County in 1853 and moved to California. The land was purchased by Thomas J. Young who continued farming the land - as did subsequent owners. In 1934 Judge Grady Niblo Sr. purchased the center 100 acres of Sharrocks' western portion of the property which included the historic farmstead. Judge Niblo and his family lived in Dallas while tenant farmers continued to farm the land until the 1970s. Upon Judge Niblos death in 1985, the land passed to his son, Grady Niblo Jr. and wife Barbara Cowlings Niblo who lived at the site until 2005. The Niblo family owned the land for 71 years the longest tenure of ownership of this site. Marlin Atlantis White Ltd. purchased 78.33 acres of the Niblo property in 2005 and subsequently donated 33.74 acres of this land - including the escarpment, the historic structures and the north-west corner of the site - to the City of Dallas, Park and Recreation Department for future park uses.

Significance The subject site and its historic structures have exceptional historic significance as one of the few sites (with intact structures) that date from the first years of Texass statehood remaining on its original site in what is now the City of Dallas and Dallas County. The cabin and its structures are also of historic significance for their association with Everard Sharrock Jr., a Peters colonist. These colonists were among the early settlers in Dallas County some arrived shortly after John Neely Bryan established Dallas as the first permanent settlement in 1841. These historic structures retain a remarkable degree of historic integrity and tell the story of the lives of some of Dallas Countys earliest settlers and how they lived. They also continue the story of how later owners continued to farm the land that was located at the crest of Cedar Bluff (now known as White Rock Escarpment) and was so near to the City of Dallas yet so distant in environment and character.

Quimby McCoy Preservation Architecture, LLP February 7, 2012

Sharrock / Niblo - History

February 11, 2012