Monday, November 3, 2008

Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Carrollton

By Laura Seewoester

A metroplex is more than just the sum of its parts. Or is it? To dive into the true character of Dallas/Fort Worth, here we present another segment in a photo series featuring the down towns, old(e) towns and city centers that feed into Dallas/Fort Worth. Each city brings its own character that, together, make D/FW such a special place to live. So keep an eye out for us, we will hit your neighborhood downtown soon. The metroplex, however, is a very large place. To tell its story through only two pairs of eyes (mine and staff photographer Laura Evans) wouldn't do it justice. If you have photos of your area city center, send them to our Flickr group and tag them Downtown Your City's Name and we will feature them in the segment on your city.

Carrollton, officially established in 1913, started primarily as an agricultural town until the Dallas-Wichita Railroad came through and eventually connected up into Denton. This helped the industry in Carrollton to expand to more exciting things, like gravel. Now, Carrollton is your regular suburb that is apparently the 15th best place to live in the country. The city can not only boast of being the hometown to 80's rapper (well, sort of rapper) Robert Matthew Van Winkle (aka "Vanilla Ice"), but it's also the home to the "one deal a day" internet phenomenon Woot.com. The downtown "Old Town" area of Carrollton is small but will likely grow in the near future due to the new DART Rail stop on the Green Line, which is expected to be finished in 2010.

Nicknames: None that I can find, except maybe "That city that accepts the immigrants that Farmer's Branch tried to kick out."

Note: The first image is a photo gallery with all the images, so you can either click through the gallery or scroll.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

Photo by Laura Seewoester

The Plaza Theater

Photo by Laura Seewoester

On the side of the Plaza Theater is a lovely mural.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

The sidewalks are not only quaint, but covered.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

The shops in downtown area include a spa, some clothing stores and a few antique shops.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

This is an old-school style soda fountain place. Charming.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

Downtown Carrollton is great for window shopping. This is in the window of the Antique Mall.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

In addition to restaurants and shops, Downtown Carrollton has lofts. And you know what those lofts have? Their very own parking spaces, clearly.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

The old silo is now a rock climbing operation.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

This is the old weigh station across from the silo. It used to be an herb shop or something, not sure what kind of operation is in there at the moment.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

The construction site of Carrollton's future Green Line Station.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

One of the Agave plants in front of Agave Azul.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

In the center of Downtown Carrollton stands a gazebo that was erected in 1974 and serves as a monument to honor veterans.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

This is what a gazebo looks like when you stand in it and look up.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

This is what brings most people to Downtown Carrolton: the coveted Babe's Chicken. People just love them some Babe's.

Photo by Laura Seewoester

The side of Babe's.

Other downtown galleries:

• Fort Worth
• Arlington
• Lewisville
• Grapevine

Does your city or suburb have an awesome downtown? Let us know, and we will make it out there for its very own Downtown Showdown. Next time: Downtown McKinney

Related stories

• Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Denton (Dec. 15, 2008)
• Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: Plano (Dec. 1, 2008)
• Downtown Showdown, a Photo Series: McKinney (Nov. 17, 2008)
• Pegasus News week in view: Change edition (Nov. 6, 2008)

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• Photography
• Local History