I have lived in Mesquite most of my life.   When I started to school (1948) the population was about 4500 folks, and when I graduated (1960) from Mesquite High School the population was about 23,000 folks.   There was only one school in Mesquite then, where Mesquite High School is today, but on a single block of land about half the size of the current campus.   I was going to school when it burned in the early 50's, and helped all day haul books from the school library to the old First National Bank Building on the square.   Speaking of the square, I remember, in the summer, there was an amature night every saturday night on the stage in the center of the square (now there is Mesquite Opry in the old Texan Theater building on the square).   I used to play with my friend Bobby Shaw in his aunt's home, the Old Lawrence Mansion out on Long Creek Road.   My grandfather was semi-retired then and ran a snow cone stand on the South East corner of the square during the summer.   Somebody sponsored an amature night on the square for years during the 1950s.   Watson's grocery was on the North West corner, across the street from the First National Bank (East of Watson's) and on the North side of the square.   Across the street to the South of Watson's was Anderson Clayton Funeral Home (Dos Paches restaurant now).   Behind Anderson Clayton's, on the west end of that block, was a croquet court, my grandfather played croquet sometime on Sunday afternoon.   Going south from the funeral home was McWhorters hardware, the Mesquite Mesquiter (community newspaper), and south of that (on the SouthWest corner) was Western Auto.   Across the square, on the East, was another line of stores, including the post office, and Ruth Davis' dry goods store and what had been another theater.   On the North side, a couple of doors from the bank, was Porter's Drug store, Dr. Shands office was in the back.   The square looked a lot different then, just a parking lot with the concrete stage and a light pole in the center.   Before that the square looked a little like it does today, there was a small park with cedar trees and stone decorations with small ponds (I never did see any water in the ponds).   On the north east side of the suare, on the second floor of a two story building, was the telephone company, at least the operator.   I believe the telephone operator also sounded the fire siren which was on top of that building, it also sounded every work day at 12:00 and at 5:00 PM. BTW   In those days you turned a crank on your phone, the operator said "number please", and thats the way you made a call.   One time my mother cranked the phone and when the operator said "number please", my mother said 15 (Dad's number at work) the operator said "hes not there, he's at the bank", it was just a simpler time of life.   There were two brick yards west of downtown Mesquite, one next to the rodeo (which was made of wood in those days) and the other north of where Military Parkway crosses I-635.   Mesquite schools were segregated in those days, the colored school was north of where the West bound lane of Military Parkway crosses I-635 and East of where I-635 is today.   A little East of the colored school and north of the tracks, was the railroad lake, which supplied water to the water tower on the Texas and Pacific RR, just East of where Gross Rd, crosses the track.   The T&P had an employee who lived in a house near the railroad lake (North of the tracks) who was responsible for filling the water tower on the T&P mainline and maintaining the steam pump.   Speaking of the railroad, the Texas and Pacific had a depot on Front Street, I remember walking past it and hearing the telegraph clacking as messages were sent up and down the line.  

My grandfather moved here in 1922 with my grandmother and dad (he was 8).   Grandpaw was a sharecropper on the old Grubbs place (I now live on the same land).

When I was a boy, I stayed with my grandparents a lot, who lived on the West end of Davis St (unpaved).   Before Military Parkway was built, Davis St. was unpaved (gravel) West of Walker St. and ended where Carmack St. is now.   Earlier, Davis had been the right-of-way for the interurban, an electric railroad/streetcar that ran out in spokes from down town Dallas to many surrounding communities.   Please see Here or here for wiki articles on Dallas Eclectric railroads.   The line that went down Davis St. in Mesquite went to Forney and Terrel, one of the transformer buildings is still north of the railroad on the west side of Terrel.   Carmack was only 1 block long and ran between the end of Davis over to Main St.   Carmack was extended one block South and paved after WWII when the housing addition on Carmack was built.   It was much later when Carmack was extended North and the T&P underpass was built.   It was not long after that that Military Parkway was built, which made Davis St the East bound lane and Main St the West bound lane.   Carmack is a contraction of two people's names who lived in Mesquite after WWII, but I have forgotten who.   I remember seeing the steam locomotives stop for water on the T&P at the water tank.   I could see the city's red brick pumphouse/jail on the West bank of the creek bed that was just West of Carmack St.   In those days, Mesquite got all it's drinking water from artesian wells near the pumphouse.   From the pumphouse you could see the white board on the side of the old black water tower, the pumphouse is where the city employee would turn the pumps on and off to fill the water tower.   As I have mentioned else where some time the employee would get busy and forget to turn the pumps off so the water tower overflowed (spectacular during a freezing spell).