Deuback Skating Rink 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX. Both photos showed where the roller rink was. You can see how thick forest grew cross the strete from the former rink and the 2nd photo also showed appeared to be farming cross the creek. First taken in 1956, second in 1966. It is the only evidence I have of the building. Nicely tucked in between the narrow road and the creek. Of course, outhouses are hard to see in those two bit blurred black and white plane photos. Source: USGS.
Deuback Skating Rink 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX. Their suggestion to widen the road clearly meant the end of the rink in this perspective but the owners wanted to retire and they did retire and then the city widen the road based on their idea to solve flooding. It did not. Did they make the rink longer? The photos looked that way. And the addition of another building next to it in the 2nd photo. All demolished to make way for the wide road. Below in that color photo, it is the soccer field and cross the street is the golf course. Source: Google.
Deuback Skating Rink 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX. After the rebuilt. Source: Dallas Morning News - 14 December 1957.
Deuback Skating Rink 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX. 1956 Dallas Morning News article. Poor kid lost his skates in the fire. I do not have second part of the article. This was enough to explain since I believe second part was just ending article. Source: Dallas Morning News/Lake Highlands Advocate.
Deuback Skating Rink 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX. Wooden nickel token. Back the day, wooden tokens were commonly used from rinks to anything else. Well, this one was for the Deuback Skating Rink. Source: Jim Cox/Facebook.
Deuback Skating Rink 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX. A fan on Dallas History Forum had those wooden token, the actual way the tokens were.. not with the hole and all. Source: Dallas History Forum..
Deuback Skating Rink 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX
Dallas Skateland 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX
Dallas Skateland 7800 N. Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX
This rink was a well known skating rink back the day in 1940s through 1970s. It was opened in the 1940s. Every article I read kept saying "1940s - 70s" so they made it very broad about the rink dates. One say that John was 13 years old when his parents built that rink and John was born in 1921 so that settles as 1934, the actual year the rink opened. I would have to settle as 1939 the year they opened. John Deubeck who was known as King of Skating took over his parents' rink just prior to the wartime as a very young man.
In the humbling beginning, in 1934, Deubacks started skating rink with a tent rink near Harry Moss Park
In 1954 both John and his brother Victor Deuback purchased the rink from their parents; John lived with his family in an upstairs apartment, as sibling Victor lived in a guesthouse right next door.
They operated the rink at the original building with a couple of apartments upstairs however, in 1956, there was a major fire at the rink and because of the apartments were upstairs. John Deubeck, his wife, and his nine years old son were upstairs in the raving fire sweeping in the apartment, John would not give up and crawled to find his son and found him and threw his son down safely through the window to his brother's arm and both John and son suffered burns.
Four different fire departments arrived to fight this major fire but they were too late, already burned completely as you can see in the newspaper article photo.
Their daughter was having a sleepover at her friend's house at the time of the fire.
Unfortunately, they had no insurance to recover that 80,000 USD loss however, both John and his wife, Cleta were able to rebuilt the rink and opened it in 1957! Praise God because of their faith. They were very involved in their faith and church community. The rink ran a couple more decades till 1970s.
Unfortunately in 1960s and 1970s, frequently were flooding in the area where the rink was and even it was bad that 2 firefighters needed help to be rescued as they were clinging onto trees by the rink because of rushing flashfloods. Their fire vehicle was sweep away. This occurred in 1971. John being very smart recommended a path for flash floods and the town were against it and wanted the road to be wider. They were mistaken and shown proof again in 1971. John was helpless to help a woman and a small child as the flood swept them away and a young boy who wanted to rescue them was also swept away. I hope Dallas learned something and should have done something like what John said! Tsk tsk, Dallas of 1960s!
John really had faith and survived the fire, and the twice flooding and the War (World War II) where he was served in the US Air Army (prior to US Air Force). Thank you for defending the Constitution of the United States and I want to add, for our Faith in our LORD Jesus Christ.
John lived to be age 96 and passed away in May 18, 2018 to be with the LORD Jesus Christ. His wife passed away in 2011 also went to be with the LORD. Both really lived long life after surviving all disasters. Yes including flooding. Here this segment from the article in Lake Highlands Advocate has to say-
But the business faced tough times. Flooding always has been problematic in the area. A 1966 article describes two firemen clinging to trees near Deuback Skating Rink after raging creek waters carried off their station wagon and equipment.
Wow, that was that bad that the fire fighters had to hang on to trees as their vehicle and equipment were sweep away. It was right by the rink when this happened that year. The rink clearly was flooded often. They never gave up a disaster after another. Another segment from same article in Lake Highlands Advocate has to say-
In 1971, John Deuback watched helplessly from his home/business as a woman and her child were swept away in White Rock Creek floodwaters. A young man who attempted to rescue them also drowned in the deluge.
Oh man, that is even worse. Made me cry. Actually, I did cry. This page is dedicated to all those people in the area including the Deuback families. God bless them.
Unfortunately for the rink after they closed in 1970s, the building itself has been demolished and now it is an open field according to Google Map. Now it is the Lake Highlands area.
The owner of the rink was frustrated that he tried to tell the town what would work best to fix the flooding problem. But no, the city said no and decided to make the road wider instead. That is the most stupidest thing I ever heard and the blood are on their hands because of those three deaths. Sure, I am Simon Cowell of Roller Rink e-museum here. But John was right about having to cut through and straighten the river.
In 1971, Ron Davis purchased Deuback's and renamed it Dallas Skateland. Unfortunately it did not last long because the city had plans to purchase the property. It appeared that the city did not not want a roller rink. Big mistake. Have teen crimes increased a lot since you torn down Dallas Skateland, Dallas? Hmm? I am waiting for your answer.
They even had a 5 cent celebrity post cards out of machine. Celebrity!? Not baseball cards. Celebrity! And postcard side, not baseball cards size. Never heard of such machine! I gotta watch American Pickers and Antique Roadshow sometimes! I do not have cable. Haha. That is why. But read about this skater who went to Deubeck rink said it had such machine.
ADDITRUM-
From Dallas Morning News--
In 1971, Deuback’s was purchased by Ron Davis and renamed Dallas Skateland, where Davis threw rock ‘n’ roll discos and skate competitions. The rink didn’t last long, though, because the city had plans to purchase the property. Faced with its closing, Davis lamented, “Every rink has a different flavor, and no one place will appeal to [my] customers the way Dallas Skateland did.”
Update! -- 01 June 2022.
I received an email from M.M. who had his 7th birthday in May 1980 stated it was open at the time, not 1970s as I previously thought. It is corrected. Thank you M.M!
The Interior.
I do not have any photos but thanks to a fan of the rink on this Dallas History Forum that the bathrooms were two outhouses hanging out over White Rock Creek! Talk about taking dumping into the creek, very Roman Bath style. There was a crude hole in the wood bench (no seat) and about 30 feet down, in broad daylight, two very large piles without so much as a cosmetic covering of lime dust. (His words, word for word).
The Exterior.
N/A.
Just that it was a Gabled building as seen in the old USGS maps and someone said there were two Roman style outhouses built over the creek in the rear of the property!
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1934, burned down 1956. Rebuilt: 1957. (Larger) Demolished: Original burned 1956, Demolished 1970s.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 3-acre wooded tract in the Vickery area (according to Dallas Morning News the morning of the fire) - (original)
Operated: 1934-1956 (due to fire), 1957 to 1980s.
Deuback Skating Rink: 1934-1956 (due to fire), 1957 to N/A.
Dallas Skateland: N/A to 1980s.
Reason for Closure: 1956 due to fire but reopened in 1957 and closed in 1980s.
Deuback Skating Rink: 1956 due to fire but reopened in 1957 (sold to new owner who renamed as...)
Dallas Skateland: City to expand by widening the road.
Wanted: Information regarding photos, more specific dates, why closed for good? Type of building and sizes. Anything more? Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Lake Highlands Advocate,
Cleta Deuback obituary,
John Deuback obituary,
Dallas Magazine - Article on John Deuback,
Dallas History Forum,
Historic Aerial*
Google Map.
D.S. (a fan)
Dallas News - by Ana Nino, 28 March 2021
Email - M.M. (skater; 01 June 2022.)
*Historic Aerial does not give you specific location. It is a weird website that they do not let you pinpoint in the link. You have to type in the address. Besides that, their copyrights are splashed all over pictures making it very hard to see and very distracting. I do not really recommend that site though.
Worth to visit:
There is no rink but the area is a park now and golf course, you may can check it out. If you can take pictures, please send them to me. Thank you!
DISCLAIMER:
Dead-Rinks and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Date of Issue: 2019.
Updated: 28 March 2021.
Updated: 01 June 2022.
For office Only: 8.
Disclaimer: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with differences result between two sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Dead-Rinks List.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. God Matters. Jn 3:16.
In the humbling beginning, in 1934, Deubacks started skating rink with a tent rink near Harry Moss Park
In 1954 both John and his brother Victor Deuback purchased the rink from their parents; John lived with his family in an upstairs apartment, as sibling Victor lived in a guesthouse right next door.
They operated the rink at the original building with a couple of apartments upstairs however, in 1956, there was a major fire at the rink and because of the apartments were upstairs. John Deubeck, his wife, and his nine years old son were upstairs in the raving fire sweeping in the apartment, John would not give up and crawled to find his son and found him and threw his son down safely through the window to his brother's arm and both John and son suffered burns.
Four different fire departments arrived to fight this major fire but they were too late, already burned completely as you can see in the newspaper article photo.
Their daughter was having a sleepover at her friend's house at the time of the fire.
Unfortunately, they had no insurance to recover that 80,000 USD loss however, both John and his wife, Cleta were able to rebuilt the rink and opened it in 1957! Praise God because of their faith. They were very involved in their faith and church community. The rink ran a couple more decades till 1970s.
Unfortunately in 1960s and 1970s, frequently were flooding in the area where the rink was and even it was bad that 2 firefighters needed help to be rescued as they were clinging onto trees by the rink because of rushing flashfloods. Their fire vehicle was sweep away. This occurred in 1971. John being very smart recommended a path for flash floods and the town were against it and wanted the road to be wider. They were mistaken and shown proof again in 1971. John was helpless to help a woman and a small child as the flood swept them away and a young boy who wanted to rescue them was also swept away. I hope Dallas learned something and should have done something like what John said! Tsk tsk, Dallas of 1960s!
John really had faith and survived the fire, and the twice flooding and the War (World War II) where he was served in the US Air Army (prior to US Air Force). Thank you for defending the Constitution of the United States and I want to add, for our Faith in our LORD Jesus Christ.
John lived to be age 96 and passed away in May 18, 2018 to be with the LORD Jesus Christ. His wife passed away in 2011 also went to be with the LORD. Both really lived long life after surviving all disasters. Yes including flooding. Here this segment from the article in Lake Highlands Advocate has to say-
But the business faced tough times. Flooding always has been problematic in the area. A 1966 article describes two firemen clinging to trees near Deuback Skating Rink after raging creek waters carried off their station wagon and equipment.
Wow, that was that bad that the fire fighters had to hang on to trees as their vehicle and equipment were sweep away. It was right by the rink when this happened that year. The rink clearly was flooded often. They never gave up a disaster after another. Another segment from same article in Lake Highlands Advocate has to say-
In 1971, John Deuback watched helplessly from his home/business as a woman and her child were swept away in White Rock Creek floodwaters. A young man who attempted to rescue them also drowned in the deluge.
Oh man, that is even worse. Made me cry. Actually, I did cry. This page is dedicated to all those people in the area including the Deuback families. God bless them.
Unfortunately for the rink after they closed in 1970s, the building itself has been demolished and now it is an open field according to Google Map. Now it is the Lake Highlands area.
The owner of the rink was frustrated that he tried to tell the town what would work best to fix the flooding problem. But no, the city said no and decided to make the road wider instead. That is the most stupidest thing I ever heard and the blood are on their hands because of those three deaths. Sure, I am Simon Cowell of Roller Rink e-museum here. But John was right about having to cut through and straighten the river.
In 1971, Ron Davis purchased Deuback's and renamed it Dallas Skateland. Unfortunately it did not last long because the city had plans to purchase the property. It appeared that the city did not not want a roller rink. Big mistake. Have teen crimes increased a lot since you torn down Dallas Skateland, Dallas? Hmm? I am waiting for your answer.
They even had a 5 cent celebrity post cards out of machine. Celebrity!? Not baseball cards. Celebrity! And postcard side, not baseball cards size. Never heard of such machine! I gotta watch American Pickers and Antique Roadshow sometimes! I do not have cable. Haha. That is why. But read about this skater who went to Deubeck rink said it had such machine.
ADDITRUM-
From Dallas Morning News--
In 1971, Deuback’s was purchased by Ron Davis and renamed Dallas Skateland, where Davis threw rock ‘n’ roll discos and skate competitions. The rink didn’t last long, though, because the city had plans to purchase the property. Faced with its closing, Davis lamented, “Every rink has a different flavor, and no one place will appeal to [my] customers the way Dallas Skateland did.”
Update! -- 01 June 2022.
I received an email from M.M. who had his 7th birthday in May 1980 stated it was open at the time, not 1970s as I previously thought. It is corrected. Thank you M.M!
The Interior.
I do not have any photos but thanks to a fan of the rink on this Dallas History Forum that the bathrooms were two outhouses hanging out over White Rock Creek! Talk about taking dumping into the creek, very Roman Bath style. There was a crude hole in the wood bench (no seat) and about 30 feet down, in broad daylight, two very large piles without so much as a cosmetic covering of lime dust. (His words, word for word).
The Exterior.
N/A.
Just that it was a Gabled building as seen in the old USGS maps and someone said there were two Roman style outhouses built over the creek in the rear of the property!
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1934, burned down 1956. Rebuilt: 1957. (Larger) Demolished: Original burned 1956, Demolished 1970s.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 3-acre wooded tract in the Vickery area (according to Dallas Morning News the morning of the fire) - (original)
Operated: 1934-1956 (due to fire), 1957 to 1980s.
Deuback Skating Rink: 1934-1956 (due to fire), 1957 to N/A.
Dallas Skateland: N/A to 1980s.
Reason for Closure: 1956 due to fire but reopened in 1957 and closed in 1980s.
Deuback Skating Rink: 1956 due to fire but reopened in 1957 (sold to new owner who renamed as...)
Dallas Skateland: City to expand by widening the road.
Wanted: Information regarding photos, more specific dates, why closed for good? Type of building and sizes. Anything more? Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Lake Highlands Advocate,
Cleta Deuback obituary,
John Deuback obituary,
Dallas Magazine - Article on John Deuback,
Dallas History Forum,
Historic Aerial*
Google Map.
D.S. (a fan)
Dallas News - by Ana Nino, 28 March 2021
Email - M.M. (skater; 01 June 2022.)
*Historic Aerial does not give you specific location. It is a weird website that they do not let you pinpoint in the link. You have to type in the address. Besides that, their copyrights are splashed all over pictures making it very hard to see and very distracting. I do not really recommend that site though.
Worth to visit:
There is no rink but the area is a park now and golf course, you may can check it out. If you can take pictures, please send them to me. Thank you!
DISCLAIMER:
Dead-Rinks and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Date of Issue: 2019.
Updated: 28 March 2021.
Updated: 01 June 2022.
For office Only: 8.
Disclaimer: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with differences result between two sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Dead-Rinks List.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. God Matters. Jn 3:16.