Originally, this property formed part of a line of wooden storefronts across the street from the County Courthouse until July 1889, when fire destroyed most of the entire block. The burned-out frame buildings were replaced over the next few years by more substantial brick structures in the commercial style–that is, in this case, two stories with street-level retail and rental space above, and with a flat roof. The building at 827/831 Main Street was completed in 1889. The retail space was occupied first by a grocery and crockery store, followed by Price Brothers Clothes Shop. The Masonic Lodge Hall was located on the second floor. A third story and a parapet were added to the building c. 1915.
The history of the Blue Garden proper begins in 1921, when the front part of the first floor was taken over by Charley Bilyeu and Wiley Gardner. They opened a cafe and confectionery, naming it the Bilyeu Garden Cafe, while part of the of the first-floor space was leased by the Dallas Bakery. The Masonic Lodge remained on the top floor. By 1923, the restaurant’s name had changed to The Blue Garden. Over the next few years, the cafe went through a series of owners, but the Blue Garden name stuck.
In 1938, William Sanders of Tillamook purchased the property, beginning the period of Sanders family ownership that lasted for the next 52 years. Hence the site became known as the Sanders Building. William Sanders oversaw a long period of improvement and expansion, closing the restaurant for a few weeks annually in order the renovate the interior. In this manner, the restaurant expanded toward the back of the building to include a much larger kitchen and eventually in the 1950s a lounge. The Garden Spot lounge became a popular venue for socializing and dancing to live music in the evenings.
One of Sanders’s renovations included, in 1947, the addition of the blue tile, glass block art-deco facade and the straight-down (called a “blade”) sign Blue Garden Restaurant neon sign to the outside of the building. (The sign was removed sometime after 2015.) During this period–the 1940s to the 1950s–the Blue Garden became a popular gathering spot for out-of-town loggers and farmers, teens, and Dallas businesspeople, as well as a center for much of the more organized social life in Dallas. Local groups like the Dallas Fire Department would use the lounge for special events, and the Masonic Lodge could be rented for an evening by such organizations as the Rainbow Girls. In 1986, the Blue Garden played a part in a made-for-television movie, Promise, starring James Garner and James Woods. Several scenes of this award-winning movie were filmed both inside and outside the restaurant.
William Sanders died in 1959, passing the property on to his wife, Elsie, and sons Keith and Jack. The family closed the restaurant in 1991, and the building went through a series of new owners as it gradually fell into disrepair. Eventually, in 2004, the Dallas City Council placed a dangerous building designation on the structure. Bob Collins, a local builder and sheriff’s deputy, purchased the property in 2015, and with the hope of reopening the Blue Garden as a restaurant, he initiated an extensive interior renovation. Unfortunately, Collins died in August 2019, three months after the grand opening of the new restaurant. The venue remained open for several more months until it closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The building was purchased in April 2020 by the Ward family and has become the home of Ward’s Auctions, an internationally known sporting-goods auction house.
KEY REFERENCES
- Blue Garden (booklet): History of a Downtown Icon, Published 2024