It’s hard to imagine anyone taking pleasure in traveling Interstate 30 between Fort Worth and Dallas, except perhaps a NASCAR driver with a death wish.
But on a warm Tuesday morning in August 1957, it was glorious jubilation for every driver who motored onto the new six-lane highway: 29.8 miles of vast, stoplight-free concrete, a bucolic journey that took only 30 minutes at a zippy 60 mph.
This was the first toll road in Texas history, officially called the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike — although for years, the Star-Telegram referred to it as, ahem, the Fort Worth-Dallas Turnpike.
Cars making practice runs at the new Fort Worth-Dallas Turnpike toll gates on Aug. 7, 1957, about three weeks before opening the freeway opened.
June 26, 1957: The new Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike and freeway interchange at East Lancaster Avenue.
Jan. 1, 1978: This aerial photo of the newly shuttered toll plaza with downtown Fort Worth in the background was shot on the day the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike became a free highway and was renamed Interstate 30.
The modern $58.5 million freeway, carved through rolling farms and prairie, reduced the drive time between the (then) distant cities by half.
Folks were happy to pay 50 cents — equivalent to $5.52 today — to experience “one of the safest highways in America,” the Star-Telegram reported in 1957.
Aug. 27, 1957: Cars line up at the gates of the new Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike on the morning it opened.
Indeed, only five minor accidents had been reported by the 11th day, when the road was ceremoniously dedicated at one of two Glass House Restaurants that served as midpoint stops in Arlington.
Early 1960s: A postcard showing day and night views of the toll gates at opposite ends of the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.
By November 1957, three months after opening, the turnpike counted its 1 millionth customer: E.W. Locker, a 28-year-old from Arlington Heights who was commuting to the new General Motors plant in Arlington.
Nov. 8, 1957: E.W. Locker, right, was the 1 millionth customer on the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike and was awarded a plaque from J.C. Dingwall, left, W.O. Jones and J. D. Brewer.
He was escorted to the service area of the toll plaza (which was just east of Oakland Boulevard) to have his photo taken, then driven to Dallas for more photos and treated to two free meals at the Glass House, a tank of gas and a 50-cent piece to cover his toll. Needless to say, he was late to work that day.
Speaking of the Glass House, which later would become a Howard Johnson, it is noteworthy that the roadside restaurant was not segregated at a time when nearly all others were.
That fact prompted a Star-Telegram story in December 1957 that quoted the food supervisor for the restaurant, Betty Crocker, saying the integrated dining room didn’t seem to bother anyone. Glass House was owned by the Texas Turnpike Authority and operated by the Interstate Company of Chicago.
“Being a toll road, it must be handled that way,” Crocker told a reporter. “They pay their tolls to get on the pike and they’re entitled to our facilities.”
An article on Dec. 9, 1957, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting on the Glass House Restaurant along the new Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike in Arlington serving all races.
Turnpike ridership ended up exceeding expectations by the mid-1970s, and the bond debt used to build the pike was paid off 17 years ahead of schedule.
On Dec. 31, 1977, the turnpike was “freed,” but not without controversy. After years of debate, legal wrangling and ultimately some legislative intervention, the tolls were lifted and the turnpike was renamed Interstate 30.
It was the end of an era that, oddly, stoked a lot of nostalgia among Fort Worth folks.
Dec. 27, 1977: Toll plazas were to be dismantled as drivers on the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike no longer had to pay.
Jan. 1, 1978: David Persons takes photographs of toll booths after the demise of toll collections on the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.
A 17-year-old named David Persons camped out in his car for two hours ahead of the 6 a.m. switch on New Year’s Eve, so he could be the first person from the turnpike’s Fort Worth end to ride the “freepike” without paying the 60 cents.
David Persons, 17, arrived at 4 a.m. so he could be the first driver on Interstate 30 when the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike officially changed to a free expressway on Jan. 1, 1978.
The Arlington Heights High School junior shrugged when asked why he had stayed up all night just to be the first one through, the Star-Telegram reported on the front page.
“Just something to tell my grandkids, I guess,” Persons told the reporter.
Others stopped by that day to pay a final thanks to the toll attendants who had “served them graciously for two decades.”
Jan. 1, 1978: Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike employee James Toler working in a booth after the demise of toll collections.
A driver named A.C. Abbott of Arlington felt his voice choking with emotion as he accepted a ticket for the last time, the Star-Telegram wrote.
As for the toll attendants, they spent their final days on the job reminiscing.
“Two times I remember someone coming through nude,” Otis Spears recalled about his eight years collecting quarters. “Once there was a woman in the back seat without anything on. Another time there was a lady with just a coat on top — just a coat, nothing else. She just smiled real big and got her ticket and went on through.”
Coverage in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of the first day that the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike’s tolls lifted, on Jan. 1, 1978. The highway became Interstate 30.
The turnpike was a big deal at the time. And in retrospect, it’s significance is even more remarkable. That ribbon-cutting in 1957 set in motion the pace and patterns of growth that would eventually forge the concept of the “Metroplex.”
The freeway fueled burgeoning industry and development in Arlington, including the 1961 opening of Six Flags Over Texas, and the minor league Turnpike Stadium in 1965 — the origin story of the Rangers’ Globe Life Field. The turnpike spawned commuter suburbs that sprawled across the rural pockets between Fort Worth and Dallas, which, before the highway, seemed much more distant from each other.
The toll plazas are now long gone. Interstate 30 today has many more lanes, exits, flyovers and traffic jams. And driving from Fort Worth to Dallas once again can take as long as an hour, just like it did before the turnpike opened.
Here’s a look at photos from the Star-Telegram’s archives of the construction, opening and eventual demise of the Dallas-Fort Wor .... oops, we mean Fort Worth-Dallas Turnpike.
July 31, 1956: Mr. and Mrs. A.F. Buck look at a scale model of the proposed Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike at the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show (today the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo)
March 3, 1956: An westward view of construction of the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike between Oakland Boulevard and Beach Street on Fort Worth’s east side. Downtown is in the distance.
Feb. 24, 1957: Construction of the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.
Aug. 7, 1957: Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike toll gates in Fort Worth a few days before the turnpike was opened to traffic.
Aug. 27, 1957: Miss Turnpike June Prichard cuts a giant pie as J.C. Dingwall and H.S. Lokey look on.
Aug. 27, 1957: James Tolar in a 1926 touring car with Robert Devine, James Garland and Dale Roberts pull up to the new Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike toll plaza, along with attendant O.F. Riggles who stands next to the vehicle.
Sept. 5, 1957: During the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike dedication, Fort Worth Mayor Tom McCann is greeted by businessman J.E. Jonsson, left, who was president of Texas Instruments and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce; oilman Arch Rowan, rear, who was vice president of the turnpike authority; and J. Ben Crites, right, vice president and executive manager of the Dallas chamber.
A Nov. 9, 1957, story in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporting the 1 millionth driver to enter the new Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike, about two months after it opened.
Nov. 29, 1958: Arch Rowman, left, who is vice chairman of the Texas Turnpike Authority, smiles at the first men to use the new entry ramp that leads to downtown Fort Worth. The men in the car, from left, are councilmen Tommie Thompson and Jesse Roach, Mayor Tom McCann, and Commissioner C.H. Wright.
Nov. 30, 1957: Cars lined on the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike returning from the TCU vs SMN football game.
Feb. 17, 1958: Snow on the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike early in the morning.
Oct. 9, 1958: Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike toll plaza and traffic bound for the University of Texas vs. University of Oklahoma football game.
Oct. 9, 1958: Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike toll plaza and traffic bound for the University of Texas vs. University of Oklahoma football game.
Sept. 9, 1960: An aerial view looking northward of the Fort Worth “Mixmaster” where the North-South Freeway (now Interstate 35), Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike (now Interstate 30) and downtown streets meet. A six-lane East Lancaster Avenue is seen going under the interchange, which has since been reconfigured. Few of the buildings near the interchange exist today.
April 15, 1964: Superimposed on this aerial photo of the Fort Worth-Dallas Turnpike are new entrance and exit ramps to be constructed at Oakland Boulevard (foreground) and Beach Street (in the distance). The ramps made access easier to east Fort Worth without paying a 10-cent toll.
Aug. 28, 1961: Doyle Willis and Don Gladden pose as they appear to put up a 70 mph speed limit sign on the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike.
A new Turnpike Courtesy Patrol Truck in 1965.
A brochure for the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike and Dallas North Tollway, dated December 1967.
November 1969: Aerial photo of the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike at Handley, on the east side of Fort Worth.
Jan. 1, 1978: As the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike was opened to free traffic, this sign remained along the highway saying “This is the turnpike, connects U.S. 80 in Dallas. Avoids 63 stop lights. Cars: 60 cents.”
Dec. 30, 1977: A sign at the Dallas-Fort Worth Turnpike toll booths just before it was removed and the highway became the no-charge Interstate 30.
MORE: Check out Star-Telegram archive photos in our collection here, including:
