Take a last look at Lemmon Avenue, because it might not be around much longer. With the recent push to remove reminders of the Civil War, such as the statue of Robert E. Lee at Lee Park, the Dallas task force has turned its eye on to street names. The task force dealing with the elimination of confederate symbols is run by the city and was originally formed by the Mayor, to decide what to do with Confederate monuments. The number of Dallas streets that bear the names of Confederate leaders is rather high, and not all of them are minor roads. Lemmon is one of the major roads that is named after a southern captain, to be exact Captain William H. Lemmon.

Lemmon is by no means the only street name that has been proposed to be changed. One of the other notable streets that is proposed to be renamed is Junius Street. The street is named after General Junius Daniel of the confederacy. Lorenzo Brown, a resident of Junius Street said in an interview with NBCDFW, “I did not know that Junius was Confederate, we’ve been living here going on 20 years, and it’s always been Junius, so I prefer it to stay Junius.” While some people do not share his opinion, there is opposition to the change of the street names.

Gaston avenue is another road whose name is in dispute. While it may look like the name of a popular Disney character, it was in fact named after William Henry Gaston, a captain of the confederate army. He is better known for being one of the people who helped found Dallas, and for his involvement in the formation of the First National Bank of Dallas after his time in the war. While Lemmon, Junius and Gaston are no longer on the list of streets recommended to be changed by the task force (the same task force that got the Lee statue removed) they are still in dispute.

The streets that are now proposed to be changed are Gano, Lee, Cabell, Stonewall, and Beauregard. While these are not major thoroughfares, they do bear the names of the most famous confederate generals. Highland Park itself was formed by land purchased by a confederate officer. Henry Exall came to Dallas after the war and was an influential businessman and horse breeder. Lomo Alto was the name of Exall’s horse breeding farm. The city of Dallas even named Exall park in his honor, streets are not the only history being sanitized by the taskforce.

Dallas Independent School District (DISD) has unanimously voted to change the names of four of its campuses with confederate namesakes. While the names of three of the four schools are still undecided Robert E. Lee elementary has chosen its new name to be Geneva Heights Elementary. Even though many parents have voiced the opinion that the name should simply be shortened, DISD has voted 5 to 4 that each school must choose a new name that is not simply a variation of the existing name.

Texas is full of markers of the Civil War, from the statues in parks, to the names of the streets of Dallas and its schools. Most of the streets in question are not named after confederate Civil War heroes, but the men the were once they returned home from the war. Men like Daniel and Exall built this city and they deserve to be remembered the positive things they did for the city of Dallas upon their return home, not for the negatives of the Civil War. The major examples of the confederacy may soon be gone, but where will the task force draw the line?