DALLAS' FIRST SKYSCRAPER

Dallas’ First Skyscraper and
John N. Harris, Jr.
From Proud Heritage, Volume III by DCPA. This 352 page hardcover book is now available online.

The Praetorian. Dallas, Texas, C. 1908

The history of Dallas would not be complete without the story of The Praetorian Life Insurance Company and Building, the first skyscraper in Dallas. Many articles and pictures have appeared in newspapers through the years, so some of my information comes from them and some from family memories and files.

The word “Praetorian” has its origin in the Praetorian Guard, the bodyguard of a Roman commander or emperor during the glory days of Rome.

The Modern Order of Praetorians was founded by C.B. Gardner in 1898, and was the first of many life insurance companies to be chartered in Dallas and Texas. Gardner had come from Illinois in 1895 and was in the wholesale book business. The fraternal order was organized in a parlor of the old Oriental Hotel with Louis Blaylock, a commercial printer and Masonic leader, and George G. Taylor, who was only eighteen at the time, but had worked in the Dallas office of a New York life insurance company since he was sixteen. Thomas D. Miller became the first president. In order to buy insurance, one had to become a member and be initiated into the Order, or Lodge. It was also a means of social life in the early days.

The Praetorians prospered and in 1905 they an-nounced plans to construct a fourteen-story build-ing, Dallas’ first skyscraper. Skeptics said that it would be impossible: even if it were built, the first Texas-size norther would blow it down. Ground-breaking ceremonies were held in October 1906 at the proposed site, Main and Stone streets.

Then the rains came – after the contractor had dug the hole for the basement. The projected building was called “Gardner’s Folly,” and when the rains filled the basement some called it “Gardner’s Swimming Pool” and “Lake Gardner.” In spite of the skeptics, the $800,000-building was completed and opened to the public in 1908. During the course of construction another story had been added, making a fifteen-story building. It not only became the first skyscraper in Dallas, but the first west of the Mississippi.

For a fee of fifteen cents daring souls could ride up in an elevator to the observatory, “where the rural landscapes can be seen for twenty miles.”

The Praetorians continued to prosper with John N. Harris, Sr., as field manager from 1914 until 1954. He had started to work with the company in 1907 as a clerk, and was president and field manager when he died in 1954.

In 1957 the Praetorian fraternal society was converted to a mutual legal reserve life insurance company and became Praetorian Mutual Life Insur-ance Company. John N. Harris, Jr., was attorney for the company at the time and was instrumental in the conversion, which had been a plan of his fa-ther’s. Times had changed for fraternals in a city as large as Dallas had become.

The Praetorian Building at 1607 Main Street was completely rebuilt in 1960-1961 while J.M. Mottley was president, and the rebuilding process was unique in that it was done one floor at a time. When it was finished there was nothing left of the original building except the steel and the name. The new building was very modern, with the exterior designed in alternating three-dimensional panels of “Praetorian Yellow,” a color derived for the purpose, and white.

In 1968 John N., Jr. former vice-president and general counsel, became president and chief executive officer. When he retired in 1983 he was chairman of the board and CEO, and remained chairman for a number of years.

So time and history move on, and in 1989 The Prae-torians merged with State Mutual Insurance Company of Rome, Georgia. After ninety-one years with the Roman Praetorian name, Praetorian Mutual Life Insurance Company went to Rome as State Mutual Insurance Company.

The significance of the formation of The Praetorians to Dallas was that it was the beginning of the City as a financial center and ended its dependence on “foreign insurance” companies.