History of Top O’ Hill Terrace Told Through Photographs

Jan. 30, 2012 - PRLog -- New from Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Top O’ Hill Terrace by local authors Vickie Bryant and Camille Hess. This pictorial history boasts more than 200 vintage images and provides readers with a unique opportunity to reconnect with the history that shaped their community.

If the saga of Top O’ Hill Casino becoming Arlington Baptist College were written as fiction, readers would dismiss it as improbable and impossible. The story of a tearoom evolving into the gambling hot spot of North Central Texas that was then acquired by a fiery gospel preacher, who foretold its transformation into a Baptist seminary and ultimately an accredited Bible college, is stranger than fiction yet absolutely true.

The rich and famous enjoyed rubbing shoulders with the mysterious and notoriously infamous, and if large amounts of money were involved, so much the better. Stir in fabulous racehorses, flashy stage and screen stars, singers, dancers, well-known bandleaders and bands, and the tale becomes enthralling.

Highlights of Top O’ Hill Terrace include:
•   Photographs of Hollywood celebrities who gambled and appeared at Top O’ Hill.
•   Coverage of the famous racehorses and world-famous boxers who were part of the Top O’ Hill story.
•   Images of Texas Rangers who raided Top O’ Hill.
•   Well-known local businessmen and wealthy patrons who frequented Top O’ Hill.
•   The intricacies of a successful Prohibition-era speakeasy and gambling club are seen “up close and personal.”
•   First-hand information gathered from a former gangster, a dancer, employees of the casino and their relatives.

Vickie Bryant and Camille Hess have been friends for more than 30 years, and both married Baptist ministers who graduated from Bible Baptist Seminary. Bryant, an Ohio native, began an interest in the school’s history when her husband, Dr. David Bryant, was named president of the college. She started researching its colorful past and became founder and curator of the Top O’ Hill Collection. Hess, born and raised on Fort Worth’s North Side, has managed a medical office and owned an art gallery and antique shop. Currently, she enjoys assisting Bryant in her ongoing search for information.

Available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or www.arcadiapublishing.com.

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With more than 7,500 local history titles published to date, Arcadia Publishing is the leading publisher of local and regional history in the United States. Widely recognized sepia books feature hundreds of vintage historical images.