History. Some people say it’s a thing of the past. I say that if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it. I said that if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it.

It’s good to know the history of things that pertain to you: family history, state history, national history, criminal history. And that includes community history. You should know the history of Lake Highlands. It is a fascinating story, and access to it is about to be made much easier because of the soon-to-be-formed Lake Highlands Historical Society (motto: “We make it our business to know about your past”).

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Not many Wildcat families know about our early frontier days. First homesteaded by a German-Irish immigrant named Hans Maguire in the early 1800s, the area of Lake Highlands was called “White Rock” because of the abundant white limestone in the area. Maguire’s old home place is near the streets of Maguires Bridge, Drumcliffe, Cork and Dunmore, names which also remind us of the country of Maguire’s birth. There actually was a bridge, and it crossed a large body of water he called “Royal Oaks Golf Course.” A physically fit man, he tragically drowned in an attempt to swim across it with his arms tied behind his back. A grief-stricken child cried out: “Look Ma, no Hans.”

During the cattle-drive glory days in Texas, Lake Highlands was home to one of the great cattle ranchers in Texas history named Audelius McCree. His “White Rockin’ M” brand marked his cattle that roamed from Garland Road to LBJ Freeway. Lonesome Dove’s Augustus McRae bears a strong resemblance to Audelius McCree.

One of McCree’s grandchildren, Buck McCree, later converted some of what was left of the original ranch into a radio station. The highest point in the City of Dallas, the area just east of Flagpole Hill was known as “Buck’s Hill,” near the present street of Buxhill. The call letters for the new radio station were supposed to be “KBUX;” but since it was already taken, he settled for “KBOX” 1480 AM, which went on to become the number one country music station in the nation outside of Nashville for many years.

Most of the McCree family members are buried in the private McCree Cemetery near the intersection of Audelia and Estate. “Estate” Lane actually got its name from a scandalous dispute over the estate of Buck McCree, after he died in 1935. It seems that the black sheep of the family, Pierre Toulouse McCree (who was nicknamed “P.T.”), fell in with the wrong crowd, married a former exotic dancer named “Miss Lily Lanshire,” and opened a strip joint on the outskirts of Lake Highlands called “PTs.” Some of the family members involved in the dispute are also remembered in street names around our community: Harry Moss, Bill Browne, Kingsley Merriman, Fitzroy McCree and Durwood “Snoogie” Larch. The unusual resolution to the dispute was that no family member received the most valuable portion of the White Rockin’ M Ranch; instead, it was given to the City of Dallas and filled with water and today is known as White Rock Lake.

And now, you know the rest of the story.