OAK CLIFF

'Oak Cliff ' was a town located in Dallas County, Texas (USA), that was annexed by the neighboring city of Dallas in 1903. It has since retained a distinct neighborhood identity as "Dallas' older, established neighborhood". As such, it is often called "The Cliff."
Oak Cliff has turn of the century and mid-20th century housing, many parks and remarkably close proximity to the central business district of downtown Dallas without the heavy vehicular traffic or higher cost of housing commonly associated with Dallas' northern neighborhoods.
The actual boundaries of Oak Cliff are roughly Interstate 30 and the Trinity River on the north, Interstate 35E on the east, Clarendon Road on the south, and Hampton Road on the west. In practice nearly every neighborhood south of the Trinity River (excluding west Dallas) is called Oak Cliff, though much of it was never part of the original town. For example, the South Oak Cliff neighborhood (the primary African American sector of Dallas, which shares much of the above boundaries, but includes neighborhoods south of Illinois Avenue) was never part of the original town of Oak Cliff, while predominantly Hispanic Arcadia Park was once its own municipality.

Contents

History

Neighborhoods

Transportation

Trains

Light rail

Highways

Oak Cliff's founding and annexation

Demographics

Education

Private

High schools

Milestones

References

External links

History

The suburb of Oak Cliff originated on December 15, 1886, when John S. Armstrong and Thomas L. Marsalis bought a farm of 320 acres on the west side of the Trinity River for $8,000. The farm was cut up into twenty-acre blocks, and the plat of the new suburb made. Armstrong and Marsalis began to develop the land into an elite residential area, which by the end of 1887 had proved to be a tremendous success with sales surpassing $60,000. However, after a disagreement between the partners Marsalis secured complete control over Oak Cliff's development. Armstrong would go on to create his own elite residential development on the north side of Dallas, known as Highland Park.
According to the first plat filed, the original township of Oak Cliff extended as far north as First Street, now Colorado Boulevard, just north of Lake Cliff, then known as Spring Lake, and as far south as a paviliion just south of Thirteenth Street, or about where the main entrance to Marsalis Park now is. It was bounded on the east by Miller Street, now Cliff Street, and on the west by Beckley Avenue. Jefferson Avenue was the route of a steam railroad, and the principal north and south thoroughfare was Marsalis Avenue, then called Grand Street.
On November 1, 1887, $23,000 worth of lots were sold in the newly opened Marsalis Addition (Oak Cliff) before noon and on the following day, ninety-one lots were sold for $38,113. Figures published later in November gave the new suburb a population of 500. Marsalis developed the Oak Cliff Elevated Railway to provide the first transporation link to his new development , using a small shuttle train pulled by a "dummy" engine. The transportation system was modeled on one in the city of New York and was heralded as "the first elevated railway in the South." In reality, the railroad operated at ground level almost its entire course down Jefferson Boulevard and towards Lake Cliff; it became only slightly elevated as it crossed the Trinity River. This steam railway was continued for many years for commuters and pleasure seekers. Marsalis began two other development projects with the intent to promote Oak Cliff as a vacation resort. One was Oak Cliff Park, now called Marsalis Park and Zoo, a 150-acre park that included a two-mile-long lake and a 2,000-seat pavilion in which dances and operas were held. Another was the Park Hotel, modeled after the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, which included several mineral baths fed by artesian wells.^[1]
In 1890 Oak Cliff incorporated with a population of 2,470 and secured a post office which operated until 1896. The community had four grocery stores, two meat markets, a hardware store, and a feed store. Businesses included the Texas Paper Mills Company (later Fleming and Sons), the Oak Cliff Planing Mill, the Oak Cliff Artesian Well Company, Patton's Medicinal Laboratories, and the Oak Cliff Ice and Refrigeration Company. A number of new elite residential areas developed by the Dallas Land and Loan Company had pushed the community's boundaries westward to Willomet Street. Oak Cliff's first mayor was Hugh Ewing. In 1891 the community's first newspaper, the Oak Cliff Sunday Weekly, was published by F. N. Oliver. Over the next three years Oak Cliff's development continued, but during the depression of 1893 the need for vacation resorts such as Oak Cliff decreased, and the community's growth stagnated, forcing Marsalis into bankruptcy. Consequently, the Park Hotel was converted into the Oak Cliff College for Young Ladies. Another educational institution, the Patton Seminary, was established two years later by Dr. Edward G. Patton. By 1900 Oak Cliff was no longer an elite residential and vacation community. Many of the lots once owned by the Dallas Land and Loan Company were subdivided by the Dallas and Oak Cliff Real Estate Company and sold to the middle and working classes, a trend which lasted well into the early 1900s. The census of 1900 reported Oak Cliff's population as 3,640. Oak Cliff was annexed by Dallas in 1903, after numerous attempts beginning in 1900. The proposal had met with little success until the community's depressed economy produced a vote for annexation by eighteen votes.
In 1902, an interurban electric streetcar line controlled by the North Texas Traction Company, was constructed passing through Oak Cliff, and connected Dallas to Fort Worth. This line discontinued service in the late 1930's. Smaller residential streetcar service ran throughout Oak Cliff's neighborhoods, spanning over 20 miles. Known as a streetcar suburb, Oak Cliff's characteristic twists and turns are largely due to the areas topography, and the paths and turnabouts created by the streetcar service. Residential streetcar service ended in January, 1956.
In April of 1908, the Trinity River flooded its banks, rising to a height of 37.8 feet by April 21. A temporary recession occurred, but rains continued in to May, finally raising the rivers height to 51.3 feet. The only bridge remaining that connected Oak Cliff with Dallas after the flood was the Zang Boulevard Turnpike, an earthen fill with a single steel span across the river channel slightly to the north of the present Houston Street Viaduct. About this time G. B. Dealey, publisher of the Morning News, returned from a trip to to Kansas City with the idea of securing for Dallas an intracity causeway similar to the one there. From his proposal sprung the Houston Street Viaduct (originally named the Oak Cliff Viaduct), begun October 24, 1910, and opened to traffic February 22, 1912, acclaimed as the longest concrete bridge in the world. This latter designation was later disputed as a publicity stunt.
In 1909, a disastrous fire occurred in Oak Cliff, consuming fourteen blocks of residences, including the Briggs Sanitorium.
On April 2, 1957, a deadly tornado ripped through Oak Cliff, killing 10 people and causing more than $1 million dollars in damages.
Since the phenomenon of "white flight" occurred in the district after the local schools were desegregated (after a bitter court battle) in the early 1970s, much of Oak Cliff (especially South Oak Cliff) became a mainly minority, low-income area after most of the mainly White middle class moved out of the area to the nearby suburbs. As a result, Oak Cliff now has more low-income housing and more citizens living below the poverty line than several other districts of Dallas and also has one of the smallest municipal budgets; the area has struggled with high crime and a high rate of gang activity in its schools.
Oak Cliff (the original area) has been experiencing some revitalization in recent years with upper middle class professionals (many of whom work in downtown Dallas and other north Dallas neighborhoods) finding Oak Cliff an affordable and convenient alternative to other Dallas neighborhoods such as the "M Streets", Lakewood and the Greenville Avenue corridor, which have become more expensive since the 1990s.
In the early 2000s, SBC Communications (now AT&T) built a regional call center in the sparse western portion of the community, resulting in many major retailers locating along Interstate 30.
Oak Cliff has a very large dichotomy between the convenient location beside downtown Dallas, excellent golf courses and parks, in some areas and the more infamous areas with lower average income, more crime and less maintained establishments. These two coexist across a schism that has come to conflict many times in its history.
In order to access better housing and educational opportunities for their families, many middle class African Americans (who in past decades settled in South Oak Cliff) have in the most recent years begun to settle in some of the nearby southern Dallas County suburbs which have been traditionally White (as part of the recent nationwide trend of Black flight): these are towns such as DeSoto, Lancaster, Cedar Hill, and Duncanville.
Oak Cliff is home to a multiplicity of characters. Among them, predominant African American and White professionals. Kessler Park, in Northern Oak Cliff, is currently home the Dallas mayor. In addition, as a developing community, Oak Cliff has recently added more businesses and housing. Carter High School has been competitive in football over the last ten years. South Oak Cliff High School has won the last three state championships in basketball and continues to be strong for next year.
Recent efforts to return the area's historic streetcar service have been spearheaded by the non-profit group, the Oak Cliff Transit Authority.

Neighborhoods

★ Arcadia Park

★ Beckley Club Estates

★ Beverly Hills

★ Brackins Village - Housing Projects

★ Bishop Arts District

★ Bronx Park

★ Brooklyn Heights

★ Cadillac Heights

★ Carver Heights

★ Cedar Crest

★ Cockrell Hill, an enclave - ''independently governed''

★ Crestwood

★ Dallas Land & Loan Phase I & II

★ Dells District

★ Elmwood

★ Glendale

★ Glen Oaks

★ Hampton Hills

★ Highland Hills

★ Kernwood

★ Kessler Circle

★ Kessler Highlands

★ Kessler Park

★ Kessler Plaza

★ Kiest Square

★ Kings Highway Conservation District

★ Kidd Springs

★ Lake Cliff

★ Las Villas

★ Lisbon (Dallas)

★ Los Encinos

★ Loupot Heights

★ L.O. Daniel

★ Mountain Creek

★ North Cliff

★ Oakland Terrace

★ Pinnacle Park

★ Ravinia Heights

★ Redbird

★ Ruthmede Place

★ Singing Hills

★ Skyline Heights

★ Southern Hills

★ Stevens Park

★ Sunset Crest

★ Sunset Hills

★ Tenth Street Historic District

★ The Bottoms

★ Trinity Heights

★ Vista Real

★ Western Park

★ Westmoreland Heights

★ Westmount (Dallas)

★ Wheatland Estates

★ Winnetka Heights

★ Wisdom Terrace

★ Woodland Terrace

★ Wynnewood North

★ Wynnewood Hills

Transportation

Trains

Light rail

★ 'DART':

★
★ Dallas Zoo Station

★
★ Tyler/Vernon Station

★
★ Hampton Station

★
★ Westmoreland Station

★ 'DART':

★
★ Morrell Station

★
★ Illinois Station

★
★ Kiest Station

★
★ VA Medical Center Station

★
★ Ledbetter Station

Highways

★ Interstate 30

★ Interstate 35E

★ U.S. Route 67

Oak Cliff's founding and annexation

The community on the south bank of the Trinity River was called 'Hord's Ridge' by its original residents in 1845. In 1887, a pair of land speculators bought all the land of the community with the intent of developing an elite residential and vacation community. The town incorporated in 1890, with a population of 2,470. According to the 1900 census, the town had a total population of 3,640.
The investors quickly built the town's amenities and infrastructure, but the Panic of 1893 erased the prosperity the town had been designed to exploit. As the market for vacation communities disappeared, one of the investors was forced into bankruptcy, and the town's large, exclusive lots were divided into parcels for sale to middle- and working class buyers.
Oak Cliff's annexation by neighboring Dallas came in 1903, after three years of unsuccessful attempts by annexation backers. The final vote was 201 to 183 in favor.

Demographics

While Oak Cliff was a predominantly African American neighborhood for decades (though this included areas not part of original Oak Cliff), the influx of Hispanics has changed that profile. In the 2000 census, Hispanics outnumbered African Americans as the largest minority in the Dallas area. While many Hispanics have moved into poorer neighborhoods like Oak Cliff, more affluent African Americans have migrated south to the suburbs of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Lancaster and DeSoto. African Americans are still very prominent in Oak Cliff and often in some parts an overwhelming majority, this is especially true in South Oak Cliff.

Education

=== Public (DISD)

High schools

Schools within the traditional boundaries of Oak Cliff:

★ W.H. Adamson High School - AAAA - ''northern''

★ Sunset High School - AAAAA

★ Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center
Schools considered to be in Oak Cliff, but in areas not part of the original city:

★ Franklin D. Roosevelt High School - AAA - ''eastern''

★ South Oak Cliff High School - AAAA - ''southern''

★ A. Maceo Smith High School - AAAA - ''southeastern''

★ David W. Carter High School - AAAAA

★ Justin F. Kimball High School - AAAA

★ Moisés E. Molina High School - AAAAA

Private

High schools

★ Bishop Dunne Catholic School - TAPPS

★ Tyler Street Christian Academy - TAPPS

Milestones

★ Town of Oak Cliff annexed by Dallas in 1903.

★ The Southland Ice Company began selling eggs and milk from their store at 12th and Edgefield in 1927. The first convenience store would eventually become known as 7-Eleven. (This 7-Eleven had a historical landmark, however it went out of business in the late 1990s.)

★ Blues singer and guitarist T-Bone Walker lived in Oak Cliff in his youth and made his first recordings in 1929 under the name "Oak Cliff T-Bone".

★ Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the criminal duo known more informally as Bonnie and Clyde, met in Oak Cliff in the 1930s. Barrow is buried in an Oak Cliff cemetery.

★ Dennis Rodman attended South Oak Cliff High School in 1970s.

★ Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan was born in Oak Cliff in 1954. The lyrics of his song "Tick Tock" are engraved in the bricks of DART's Hampton Station. Pop singer Edie Brickell (married to Paul Simon) is also from the area.

★ Lee Harvey Oswald was captured at the Texas Theater on Jefferson Avenue after allegedly assassinating U. S. President John F. Kennedy and killing Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit on November 22, 1963. Oswald was also an Oak Cliff resident at the time.

★ Yvonne Craig (the Original Batgirl) attended both W. H. Adamson and Sunset High School.

References

★

★ A Brief History of Oak Cliff at oakcliff.com
The infamous Howard Hughes originally owned the Texas Theater located on the Historical Jefferson Street.

External links

★ Old Oak Cliff Conservation League

★ Friends of Oak Cliff Parks

★ OakCliff.com

★ [1] ''Handbook of Texas'' Online article

★ ''Beautiful Lake Cliff, clean, cool, delightful: the Southwest's greatest playground; it's in Dallas'' published 1906, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.

★ '''Winnetka Heights Gazette''': Online community for the neighborhoods of Old Oak Cliff.

★ '''CliffDweller''': New magazine written by and for the Oak Cliff community.

★ '''People Newspapers''': New newspaper for Oak Cliff.

★ Oak Cliff Transit Authority: Oak Cliff private community organization whose mission is to return the areas streetcars.