Angus G. Wynne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Angus G. Wynne, Jr. (born January 9, 1914 in Kaufman County, Texas - died in 1979) was the founder of the "Six Flags Over Texas" theme park in Arlington. He was the son of Angus G. Wynne, Sr. of Texas and Nemo Shelmire Wynne of Texas or Louisiana (1920 U.S. Census reveals her place of birth as Louisiana, but newspaper articles and the 1930 U.S. Census shows her birth was in Texas). His father and grandfather practiced law in Wills Point until his family moved to Dallas around 1928.
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[edit] Family
His brother Bedford Wynne, was one of the initial co-owners and founders of the Dallas Cowboys professional football franchise, along with Clint Murchison, Jr.
His son Angus G Wynne III is the owner of Wynne Entertainment in Dallas and has been a producer of music events since 1965.
[edit] Education
Wynne attended Highland Park High School and graduated there in 1931. Wynne attended The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, then Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. from 1934-1935, before receiving a B.A. from University of Texas at Austin in 1938.
He was a member, along with his brother, Bedford, of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, while attending UT.
He worked on Texas oil fields from 1938 to 1940 when he received an ensign's commission in the Navy. In the Navy, he was awarded six service stars for service in the European and Asiatic theaters during WWII.
[edit] Wynnewood
Wynnewood was the first post-WWII community in the Dallas area, and the first families moved in around January 1947. The story of Wynnewood, however, started long before. In 1913 American Home Realty Company bought the land, but plans for a suburban housing development were not made until the WWII years. The property had at one time belonged to John M. Wright, an earlier settler for whom a survey was made when it was farmland. Most of the land remained undeveloped until the 1940s, at which point the American Home Realty Company and its 820 acres (3.3 km²) in Oak Cliff switched hands. Ownership of AHR went to prominent businessman Toddie Lee Wynne Sr. and prominent real estate investor and developer Benjamin Hick Majors.
The presidency of AHR was given to Wynne, who was the nephew of Toddie Wynne Sr. After his tour in the Navy, Wynne returned to Dallas and was handed the task of developing 820 acres (3.3 km²) in Oak Cliff in December of 1945.
Mass production techniques developed during WWII were used to meet Wynne's demanding building schedule, which, due to bad weather and shortage of materials, was rarely ever met. In 1946, the American Home Realty Company bought a large Dallas lumber mill to overcome the shortage and meet the strong demand that the housing development required. There were several different sections of Wynnewood throughout the development phase, including Wynnewood Park, intending to be an area of low-cost homes, and later, Wynnewood North, designed for bigger lots and lavish houses.
Wynne is largely credited with having the vision to make the Wynnewood idea - with its efficient building practices and well-designed, high quality houses - come to fruition. Part of the vision was to create a self-contained community, complete with an all-encompassing shopping area. The 27 acre Wynnewood Village Shopping Center provided everything from a hotel, bank, theatre, church, beauty salon, grocery and supply stores, restaurants, and doctors' offices. Wynnewood's aim of mass-produced, quality houses with unique and personal characteristics was unrivaled and its success continued to suggest to Dallas developers the notion that there was great potential on the other side of the Trinity River. In 1946, Wynnewood was one of the largest residential developments of its kind, originally estimated at $25 million; and estimated at more than $40 million by 1960, solidifying its place among the first and most ambitious post-WWII suburbs in the nation.
[edit] Six Flags Over Texas
Following a visit to the recently opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, Wynne decided that his home state of Texas should have a local park for entertainment. Planning for such a place began in 1959, under the leadership of Wynne and the Great Southwest Corporation, along with the backing of various New York investors. Construction on the park, and its next door neighbor, the Great Southwest Industrial Park, began in August, 1960. Wynne first intended to name the park "Texas Under Six Flags" until his wife notified him that Texas was never "under anything."
The "six flags" originally represented the six countries that have governed Texas: France, Spain, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, The Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.
The Six Flags company eventually acquired numerous other properties and is currently the world's largest regional theme park chain.
With the significant cost of developing a park from the ground up becoming prohibitive, the company began acquiring parks with significant potential, but to date, had been less successful than those of Six Flags. AstroWorld, built by Judge Roy Hofheinz in Houston, Texas, was the first park to be acquired in 1975. Two years later, the company went on to purchase a New Jersey park developed by the Hardwicke Companies and designed by Warner LeRoy (son of Wizard of Oz director, Mervyn LeRoy), called Great Adventure. The last park that Wynne would see acquired in his lifetime under the Six Flags name was California's Magic Mountain (outside Los Angeles) in 1979. Wynne died that same year and although he was no longer associated with the company at the time of his death, Six Flags would eventually acquire numerous other properties and become the world's largest regional theme park chain.
[edit] Honors
State Highway 360 through Arlington is officially designated the Angus Wynne Jr. Freeway, however, it is rarely referred to as such.
