In 1851, pioneer John H. Daniel walked the 1500 miles from St. Jo, Missouri to Dallas, TX, hoping to make his fortune plowing and cultivating in the valley of White Rock Creek – an isolated, abundant wilderness, a full day’s trip by wagon from the village of Dallas. He established his farm on the banks of the small creek and made his living off the land.  Boyd Keith eventually purchased the 90 acres that became the Monticello and Pasadena residential neighborhoods from Daniel’s children.
Due to a water shortage, White Rock Creek was eventually dammed and became White Rock Lake in 1910, and was used as an auxiliary water supply for the City of Dallas.  The turning point for the area came when the city decided that it would no longer be needed as such after the completion of Lake Dallas (now Lake Lewisville)  in Denton.  It was announced in 1926 that sanitary restrictions would be removed and the lake would be opened to the public for swimming, boating and other recreations.
By that time, paved highways and “modern” transportation had made White Rock only a short trip from Dallas – about five miles down East Grand from the post office.   Developers began buying up all the land in the area and turning it into the residential neighborhoods that exist today. In less than two years, twelve exclusive districts had been created and eighteen miles of paving had been laid, as had approximately 40 miles of sidewalks and curbs. Construction was begun on East Dallas High School (now Woodrow Wilson). The city and property owners shared the cost of putting in a sewer system, the longest sewer line ever built at the time in this part of the country.  Light service, gas mains and water were extended to the area.  The city finished repaving the road between the Santa Monica and Gastonwood additions to allow for access by streetcar, the Mount Auburn line, and buses operated over both paved and graveled country roads. New East Dallas was born as “the most attractive pleasure resort in the Southwest,” and set new realty records at the time.
Development had already begun on Country Club Estates (Lakewood), which opened in 1923, adjacent to the Lakewood Country Club on Gaston Avenue.  The intention was to make it one of the most exclusive and beautiful home sections of the city.  In time when an expensive home cost $10,000 and a cottage $6,500, over a million dollars was spent on construction in under three years.
Gastonwood itself was owned by Clayton Brown, a prominent real estate man in the area (and the man after whom Clayton Ave. is named).     He was also the president of the New East Dallas Association, an organization of all the property owners around White Rock that worked together to promote their common interests, who were instrumental as a group in having city utilities and services extended to the area.  The neighborhoods around White Rock Lake were considered some of the most desirable in Dallas.  Gastonwood’s original developer, J.W. Lindsey and Co., developed the area with an eye toward natural beauty and recreational pursuits.  The first house was completed in 1918, in the 6800 block of Clayton.  Development continued into the fifties on Gaston, Casa Loma, Coronado and Linden Ave. (La Vista).
The boundries of the Gastonwood/Coronado Hills area are Gaston Avenue, East Grand, Brendenwood and La Vista.  The neighborhood is comprised of around 525 homes and 30 streets, most of which are single-family homes and many of which date back to the 1920s.