Acquisitions, Development, Capital Sourcing & Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs)
Acquisitions, Development, Capital Sourcing & Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs)
Our main office is located at 1901 N Akard better known as, The Cumberland Hill School Building. This historic building was built in 1888 and designed by prolific Dallas Architect A. B. Bristol, Cumberland Hill School is the only remaining 19th century school building in Dallas.
The building served many purposes over the years. Most notably, as a corporate headquarters and school building. It was originally constructed by the City of Dallas in the late 1890's to be a local school. During the course of its time as a school house, over 30,000 students had attended class there. During the 1930's the school had become a cosmopolitan center, educating students of more than 30 nationalities who lived in the industrial section of Dallas right next to the students that came from the elite areas of the city with addresses such as Ross, Thomas, McKinney and Maple avenues. It was known as a true "melting pot" for this reason, bringing students from all over the city to learn in Cumberland.
Prior to Clement's acquisition of the building and renovation into the SEDCO HQ, the building was home to a trade school. When former Gov. William P. Clements Jr. (Then CEO & Chairman of SEDCO at the time) bought the old Cumberland School building in 1970, he committed to preserving the landmark. Clements, whose wife’s great grandfather was president of the Dallas school board when Cumberland Hill School was built in 1888, had studied the massive structure and become enamored.
Clements set out on a mission to restore the building to its original design, down to the original brick. Today the building retains its high ceilings and much of its original brick. Whether primarily personal or professional, Clements’ interest in the building’s preservation was critical to its survival. In 1970, the school became the corporate headquarters of SEDCO. Today, it still looks much as it must have in 1888 when it replaced a small wooden-frame school built on the same site before the Civil War by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
