Dahl, George Leighton, 1894-

George Dahl, one of Dallas' most prominent architects, was born in Minneapolis in 1894, of Norwegian immigrants. He learned to speak English in school at age 7. After graduating from college with a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota, he received his Masters from Harvard in 1923. In 1926, he began work for the Herbert M. Greene Co. in Dallas, Texas. He became a partner in Greene's firm in 1928, and the name of the firm was changed to Herbert M. Greene, LaRoche, and Dahl and later LaRoche and Dahl after Greene passed away.

In 1943, Dahl founded his own company, George Leighton Dahl, Architects and Engineers, Incorporated. It was during his time that his career reached soaring heights. Upon his retirement in 1973, he had produced some 3,000 projects throughout the country that are estimated to be worth $3 billion. After 1973, Dahl continued to make appearances at architectural events in Dallas and lived to see his most famous project, Fair Park (1936), fastidiously restored and named a National Historic Landmark.

Dallas buildings that he designed include the Methodist Hospital, the Earle Cabell Federal Building, Owen Fine Art Center at Southern Methodist University, The Dallas Morning News building, Jesuit High School, the Dallas Public Health Center, Mrs. Baird's Bakery, and Sears on Ross Avenue. Outside Dallas, he designed 26 buildings for the University of Texas at Austin, 32 stores for Sears, Roebuck and Co. and 15 prisons for the Texas Department of Corrections. His firm also worked on projects for the Federal government, the Navy, the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Army Engineers, General Services Administration, and the U.S. Air Force. Other works include banks, office buildings, churches, department stores, schools, hospitals, stadiums, and shopping centers. He also designed, managed, and owned Gold Crest Apartments, the apartment building in which he lived until his death in July of 1987.

Dahl was active in professional organizations. He was one of the founders of the Texas Society of Architects and served as the Society's second President. Dahl was also President of AIA Dallas in 1959, and was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects. He was admired by the people who worked with him. David Braden, who was a partner in the firm for which Dahl was consultant after his retirement, admiringly summed up the true legacy of his mentor, While the public will remember his buildings, his professional colleagues will remember him as an innovator and organizer.... He spent most of his professional life pioneering activities which are now common in the profession, but which were unheard of or strenuously resisted by his colleagues at the time.

Dahl, who was survived by his wife Joan, was an active contributor to the Dallas community as well as the skyline. He provided leadership and support for numerous Dallas organizations including the Hella Temple Shrine, Louis Preister Masonic Lodge, and Scottish Rite, and the Rotary Club.

From the guide to the George Dahl papers, DAHL Accession number(s): 1996004, 1996008 ., 1916-1991, (Alexander Architectural Archive, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin.)