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Jeter & Son Funeral Home
4830 W. Illinois
214-330-4700


church.jpg (20078 bytes)
Tyler Street United Methodist Church (Winnetka Heights area) (214) 946-8106

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A Brief History of Oak Cliff
Early - 1920

  

Note: This history was originally compiled as a part of a 90th anniversary project at Tyler Street United Methodist Church. It is a work in progress -- I'd appreciate any contributions, corrections, information & pictures. -- Alan (email)

Please visit some of the other pages on the Oak Cliff site that include trivia, remembrances and history contributed by web site readers.

 


 
Early History to 1910
In the 1830s and 40s, occasional settlers set up temporary stockades and houses on the west side of the Trinity River before Dallas was founded. The first permanent settlement was established in 1845 by William H. Hord, and was called Hord’s Ridge. In 1887 T.L. Marsalis bought 2000 acres and began a development of houses he called Oak Cliff. People liked the name so much, they changed the name of the town to Oak Cliff, and by 1900, Oak Cliff had a population of 3,630 people.
 


Early Map of Land Parcels in Oak Cliff
 

By 1901, the town of Oak Cliff had several schools and churches (including St. Mark’s Methodist established in 1888, which became Oak Cliff Methodist). The principal of the Oak Cliff High School in 1900 was W.H. Adamson. He served there for almost 40 years, and the school was eventually named after him. Popular places in Oak Cliff between 1901 and 1910 included Oak Cliff Park, which became the Marsalis Park Zoo, Mallory’s Drug Store at Jefferson and Tyler Street and the Hillpot Store on Jefferson Boulevard.

Isolated: A large flood in May of 1908 cut Oak Cliff off from Dallas for a number of days. As a result, measures were taken to build a better bridge across the Trinity River, and on February 22, 1912, the Dallas and Oak Cliff Bridge (now known as the Houston Street Viaduct) was opened. It was 5106 feet long, cost a staggering $675,000, and was said to to be the longest bridge of its kind in the world.


Early advertising
for Oak Cliff compared this new development to Cambridge, Massachusetts. According to an article in the 1895 Dallas Daily Times Herald described ongoing construction in Oak Cliff,  "Boating, Bathing and Fishing, With all Modern Accessories, Will be Had at the Famous Kidd Springs." The area bears the name of Colonel J. W. Kidd, who purchased the land in 1875 (previously called Gilbert Springs.)

The growing city of Dallas set it’s eyes on Oak Cliff and proposed annexation. A heated debate ensued with many citizens afraid the merger would hinder Oak Cliff’s growth. However, the vote succeeded by a slim margin of 201 to 183. This merger increased Dallas’s size by one third.
 

1911 to 1920


 

This old postcard depicts the Oak Cliff (Corinth Street) Viaduct.

oakcliffviaduct.jpg (59503 bytes)


Church Growth: In May, 1911, Rev. J. Leonard Rea was appointed to begin a new church in West Dallas. By January, 1912, the new church was meeting in the home of Mr. and Mrs. W.O. Forrestor (at 511. W. Tenth Street). In April, 1912, a contract was let to build a building at a cost of $5,000. The corner stone for the original Tyler Street Methodist Church (at the corner of Tyler and Sunset) was laid on the first Sunday in May, 1912, with sixty-six members in attendance. It would eventually grow to have the largest Sunday School of any Methodist Church in the world in the 1950s.



Map of Dallas -- circa 1920?

The decade between 1911 and 1920 saw a growing population in Oak Cliff, with many large and fine houses being built on broad and tree lined streets, and the Marsalis Park Zoo began to attract visitors from all over North Texas. 

Go to Oak Cliff Home History Page
Go to Oak Cliff History Year 1920-1940
Go to Oak Cliff History Year 1940-1960
Go to Oak Cliff History Year 1960-1980
Go to Oak Cliff History Year 1980-1999
Go to Oak Cliff History Year 2000 and beyond


Those Who Served -- We're working on a memorial to Oak Cliff men and women who died in the service to America. If you have any information, comments, ideas or pictures, let me know.
 
Do you know some Oak Cliff trivia or a famous Oak Cliffite? Do you have corrections or additions to any of the bios I've listed here?  

www.oakcliff.com

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(C) Alan C. Elliott, 2008

 

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This page was last edited on April 11, 2008