Oak Cliff History - 1901-1910
Early History |1901-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 |
| 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-2000 | 2001 -
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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.
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 1903 merger increased Dallas’s size by one third.
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 (see the next history page.) The 1908 flood marked an end of one era of Oak Cliff’s history.
Although Oak Cliff had officially been a part of Dallas since 1903, this event brought to a head the separation that existed between the two sides of the Trinity River. At the same time, the grand vision of Marsalis for an elite vacation resort had all but vanished. New developers drained the Oak Cliff Lake, and much of the land became the location for the Marsalis Park Zoo. Marsalis took his family and his enterprise to New York.
Oak Cliff’s most celebrated artist, Frank Reaugh (1860-1945) also gained prominence as a teacher, inventor, and photographer. Known as the 'Dean of Texas Artists,' Reaugh (above) helped start the Dallas Art Association (now the Dallas Museum of Art) and founded the Dallas School of Fine Arts.
Frank Reaugh first lived on Eighth Street where Adamson High School is located but moved to Fifth and Crawford Streets in the 1920s. Early correspondence from Reaugh reports that he practiced sketching longhorn cattle that grazed in a feedlot close to that Eighth Street home. El Sibil (below,) Reaugh’s studio and home, also served as a site for concerts and art shows. Portions of this historic building have been restored and can be seen at 122 East Fifth Street. (Courtesy of Lucretia Donnell Coke.)
Lifeguards on duty at Kidd Springs Park were ready to aid the many Cliffites who came for a summer’s day swim. In the early 1900s, this private park was known as the Kidd Springs Boating and Fishing Club. The city purchased the park as a part of a post World War II bond program. (Courtesy of David Sams.)
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.)
Early History |1901-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 |
| 51-60 | 61-70 | 71-80 | 81-90 | 91-2000 | 2001 -