Goose Valley

“The Jews who had fled the Czar and the pogroms of Russia or the forced military service (which could mean serving twenty-five years) were, for the most part, very poor but hard-working, and this area, which was not very desirable was affordable to these people. (“Goose Valley,” the undesirable area where the impoverished immigrant Jews lived and got their start, today is an area of highly desirable real estate). Many lived in small houses that had been built by the railroad. Few had money, but they had a strong sense of commitment to one another; many were related and came from the Suwalki region of Poland/Russia. The Rachofsky, Tobolowsky, Ablon, Rubenstein, and Wyll families were related, had large families, and were dominant in Tiferet Israel synagogue, established in 1890 on Highland Street. Mr. Rachofsky was a blacksmith, Messers. Tobolowsky, Ablon, and Rubenstein were peddlers, and Issie Wyll began delivering Schepps Bread with a horse and wagon. The First Austro-Roumanian Congregation originated in 1906 on Alamo Street, and Cumberland Hill Elementary School, located on Akard and Cochrane, was the school these children attended, as well as the children of other nationalities who also lived in the area.” Excerpt from They Came to Stay: The Story of the Jews of Dallas, 1870-1997 by Rose Biderman, 2002