I promised my kids that we will be going to Dallas, Texas to visit the Dallas Zoo and the Dallas World Aquarium on Spring break. Dallas is only 3 hours or 150 miles away from my house. I can drive as long as I have the GPS but lucky me, hubby was available that day so he did all the driving. We made it to the zoo but unfortunately not at the aquarium, the place was so crowded and the line for the ticket booth was so long so hubby decided to leave to go back some other day.

Dallas Zoo, founded in the spring of 1888 when a man from Colorado City offered to sell two deer and two mountain lions to the City of Dallas and placed them in the City park, the first city-owned and operated park. Although the Zoo was a very popular attraction, City Park lacked sufficient space to house all of the animals properly and citizens voiced interest in a more fully developed zoo. It was later moved to Fair Park in 1909, making it the second home of the Dallas Zoo.

Due to an expanding and prosperous State Fair, in 1912, the Zoo was removed from Fair Park and relocated to its current location Marsalis Park (purchased by the City in 1909) in Oak Cliff. The Zoo grew rapidly and a large and varied collection of animals were obtained mostly through donations from civic groups and private citizens. The Zoo then became an educational facility rather than a mere collection of assorted animals.