Oak Cliff is a neighborhood of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, that was formerly a separate town in

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...

; Dallas

annexed Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

Oak Cliff in 1901. It has since retained a distinct neighborhood identity as one of Dallas' older established neighborhoods. Lake_Cliff_Tower_2

Oak Cliff has turn-of-the-20th century and mid-20th century housing, many parks, and is near the

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

downtown Dallas Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States, located in the geographic center of the city. It is the second-largest business district in the state of Texas. The area termed "Downtown" has tradit ...

. The boundaries of Oak Cliff are roughly

Interstate 30 Interstate 30 (I-30) is a Interstate Highway in the southern states of Texas and Arkansas in the United States. I-30 travels from I-20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, and Texarkana, Texas, to I-40 in North Little Rock, Ar ...

on the north,

Loop 12 Loop 12 is a state highway that runs mostly within the city limits of Dallas, Texas. The western segment of the loop is named after General Walton Walker, who served and died in South Korea. During the 1950s and 1960s, Loop 12 was the outer be ...

on the west,

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

on the east, the Trinity River on the northeast and

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with Interstate 10, I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with Interstate 95, I-95 in Flo ...

on the south.

History

Oak Cliff originated on December 15, 1886, when

John S. Armstrong John S. Armstrong (November 18, 1850 – April 26, 1908) was an American real estate developer. He was the co-founder (along with Thomas Marsalis) of the former City of Oak Cliff (now incorporated into Dallas) and founder of the town of Highland Par ...

and Thomas L. Marsalis bought a farm of on the west side of the Trinity River for $8,000. The farm was subdivided into blocks, and the

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

of the new town made. Armstrong and Marsalis began to develop the land into an elite residential area, which proved to be a success by the end of 1887, 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, later named Colorado Boulevard just north of Lake Cliff, then known as Spring Lake, and as far south as a pavilion below Thirteenth Street. It was bounded on the east by Miller Street, later named Cliff Street, and on the west by Beckley Avenue. Jefferson Boulevard 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 transportation 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 promoted as "the first elevated railway in the South". The railroad ran special trains to

Oak Cliff Park Trinity Park was a minor league baseball park located in Dallas, Texas, and was one of the Texas League champion Dallas Hams home ballparks from 1897 to 1904. The ballpark existed in the bottom of the Trinity River; the Houston Street viaduct ...

the home ground of the Dallas Hams. In reality, the railroad operated at ground level almost its entire course down Jefferson Boulevard and towards Lake Cliff; it only became 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, later called Marsalis Park and Zoo, a park that included a two-mile (3 km)-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 well An artesian aquifer is a confined aquifer containing groundwater under positive pressure. An artesian aquifer has trapped water, surrounded by layers of impermeable rock or clay, which apply positive pressure to the water contained within th ...

US-TX(1891) p826 OAK CLIFF, OAK CLIFF UNIVERSITY

Oak Cliff incorporated in 1890 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 demand for vacation resorts 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 already 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. In 1902, an interurban electric streetcar line controlled by the

Northern Texas Traction Company The Northern Texas Traction Company was a subsidiary of Stone & Webster that operated the streetcar system and interurban lines in Fort Worth, Texas. The Northern Texas Traction Company began with the purchase of the City Railway of Fort Worth b ...

, was constructed passing through Oak Cliff, and connected Dallas to Fort Worth. This line discontinued service in the late 1930s. Smaller residential streetcar service ran throughout Oak Cliff's neighborhoods, spanning over . Known as a

streetcar suburb A streetcar suburb is a residential community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation. Such suburbs developed in the United States in the years before the automobile, when ...

, Oak Cliff's characteristic twists and turns are largely due to the area's topography, and the paths and turnabouts created by the streetcar service. Residential streetcar service ended in January 1956. 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 in favor of annexation by eighteen votes.

Ku Klux Klan (1920s)

In April 1921, the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

declared a chapter within Dallas, making themselves known by not only beating and branding a local black hotel elevator operator, but by also parading in downtown Dallas with nearly 800 hooded Klansmen in attendance. The Dallas chapter is known as “Klavern 66” moved its meeting hall into Oak Cliff due to a large increase in members shortly after being announced. Klavern 66 was able to spread their influence by producing their own newspaper, Texas 100% American, which was projected to circulate approximately 18,000 copies. In March 1922, another well-known

beating in occurred, this time in Oak Cliff, against a tailor named W.J Gilbert, as reported by the

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...

Residential segregation (1930s to 1953)

The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

caused Dallas’ economy to suffer, resulting in the Oak Cliff's

black community Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...

contributing to approximately one-half of the city's unemployment population. As blacks were known to be considered first for layoffs, a need for low-income housing quickly rose. As a result, 86% of Oak Cliff's black population was forced into inhabiting sub-standard housing, commonly located on what was considered as the most undesirable and unlivable parts of Dallas. Violence broke out in Oak Cliff between its black and white citizens over the issue at hand. The Dallas mayor at the time,

Woodall Rodgers James Woodall Rodgers (May 11, 1890 – July 6, 1961) was an American attorney, businessman, and mayor of Dallas, Texas. Rogers was born in New Market, Alabama. He received his B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University in 1912 and his LL.B. fro ...

, was documented as criticizing Oak Cliff's black community for inciting the violence and not being accepting of their residential segregation. In 1952, the production and advertising company

Keitz & Herndon Keitz and Herndon was an American television production company that made cartoons, advertisements, short educational films, and commercials founded in 1952 in Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, Texas. Most notably they created the "Frito Kid" masco ...

was founded in Oak Cliff.

School desegregation (starting in 1954)

In apprehension to the

Brown vs. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...

Supreme Court ruling in 1954, the city of Dallas resisted desegregating their schools with the help of federal judges such as Judge

William H. Atwell William Hawley Atwell (June 9, 1869 – December 22, 1961), frequently known as W. H. Atwell, was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Education and career Born in Sparta, Wisco ...

, the Chief Judge of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (in case citations, N.D. Tex.) is a United States district court. Its first judge, Andrew Phelps McCormick, was appointed to the court on April 10, 1879. The court convenes in D ...

. To combat the inevitability of desegregation of schools, Dallas, in 1961, initiated a "Stairstep Plan". The proposed plan stated that all DISD schools would begin desegregation one grade level per year, beginning with the first grade. DISD declared all of their schools desegregated in 1967, which was later found to be inherently false. In July 1971, it was discovered that out of the total 180 DISD schools, 159 schools met the criteria to be classified as a one-race school (90% of the student population being either Black, Mexican American or Anglo). At the conclusion of the case in August 1971, Judge William M. Taylor of the

, ruled in favor of a majority-to-minority transfer program. The program stated that all DISD students who attended schools where their race made up the majority of the student population would integrate into schools where their race was a minority by offering free transportation by bus. For the next few decades Oak Cliff schools, along with those in South Dallas, became the focus of a long-running and bitter court battle over

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

, one overseen by federal judge

Barefoot Sanders Harold Barefoot Sanders Jr. (February 5, 1925 – September 21, 2008) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and counsel ...

. All of DISD's schools were officially declared desegregated by the city in 2003.

Natural disasters

In April 1908, the Trinity River flooded its banks, rising to a height of by April 21. A temporary recession occurred, but rains continued into May, finally raising the river's height to . 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 The Houston Street Viaduct (formerly the Dallas-Oak Cliff Viaduct) is a viaduct in Dallas, Texas, that carries Houston Street across the Trinity River, connecting Downtown Dallas and Oak Cliff. Designed by Ira G. Hedrick, it was built in 1911, ...

. About this time, George B. Dealey, publisher of the Morning News, returned from a trip to Kansas City with the idea of securing for Dallas an intracity causeway similar to the one there. From his proposal sprang 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

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

ripped through Oak Cliff as part of the Early-April 1957 tornado outbreak sequence, killing 10 people and causing more than $1 million in damages.

Demographics

Prior to neighborhood desegregation and

redlining In the United States, redlining is a discriminatory practice in which services (financial and otherwise) are withheld from potential customers who reside in neighborhoods classified as "hazardous" to investment; these neighborhoods have signif ...

, Oak Cliff was predominantly white. Many neighborhoods in the Oak Cliff area, especially the most southern portions, were targeted for desegregation. As was typical of desegregation in the country, many all-white neighborhoods transitioned to black neighborhoods due to white migration to suburbs in

North Dallas North Dallas is an area of numerous communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas (United States). The phrase "North Dallas" is also sometimes used to include any suburb or exurb north of Dallas proper within the metropolitan area. The majority of ...

. Subsequently, Oak Cliff has become a heavily Hispanic area. In 2001 Jim Schutze of the ''

Dallas Observer ''Dallas Observer'' is a free digital and print publication based in Dallas, Texas. The ''Observer'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music, and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue circ ...

'' referred to northern Oak Cliff as "Dallas' own

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, where various ethnicities choose to live close to each other and not get along."

Population and area

*Oak Cliff: 290,365 (area: ) :* East Oak Cliff: 27,517 (area: ) :* West Oak Cliff: 107,824 (area: ) :* South Oak Cliff: 61,952 (area: ) :* Southwest/Red Bird: 93,072 (area: )

Neighborhoods

Arcadia Park Shale The Arcadia Park Shale is a geologic formation within the Eagle Ford Group that outcrops in the northern portion of East Texas. It was deposited during the Middle to Late Turonian of the Late Cretaceous.Denne, R. A., Breyer, J. A., Callender, A. ...

* Beckley Club Estates *Beverly Hills *

Bishop Arts District The Bishop Arts District is a shopping and entertainment district in north Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas (USA), near the intersection of Bishop Street and Davis Street. The Bishop Arts District is immediately southwest of Downtown Dallas and south of ...

*Brentwood *Brettonwoods *Bronx Park *Brooklyn Heights *Carver Heights * Cedar Haven *Cedar Oaks *Crestwood *Dallas Land & Loan Phase I & II *Dells District *Druid Hills * Elmwood *El Tivoli Place *Encinos Park *Five Mile (Dallas) *Glen Oaks (Dallas), Glen Oaks * Hampton Hills *Hideaway Valley *Kernwood *Kessler Circle *Kessler Highlands * Kessler Park *

Kessler Plaza, Dallas Kessler Plaza is a neighborhood located in the Kessler area of Dallas, Texas (USA). It is the southernmost of the Kessler neighborhoods.

*Kiest - Polk *Kiest Square *Kiestwood *Kimball Estates * Kings Highway Conservation District * Kidd Springs *

Lake Cliff Lake Cliff is a freshwater lake in the northern part of the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 k ...

*Las Haciendas (Marion dr)(dallas) *Las Villas (Dallas) *Legendary Hollow *Los Encinos *Loupot Heights * L.O. Daniel *Mountain Creek (Dallas) * North Bishop Avenue Commercial Historic District *North Cliff *Oakland Terrace *Oakland Hills, Woodtown *Oak Park Estates *Oak Tree Colony (The Countrytown) * Pinnacle Park * Polk Terrace *Ravinia Heights *Rolandale *Ruthmede Place *Skyline Heights *Southern Hills * Stevens Park Estates * Stevens Park Village *Summit Lawn *Sunset Crest *Sunset Hills (Dallas) * Tenth Street Historic District *

The Bottom The Bottom (formerly ''Botte'') is the capital and largest town of the island of Saba, the Caribbean Netherlands, and is the first stop on the way from Saba's Port in Fort Bay towards the rest of the island. In 2001, it had 462 inhabitants of the ...

*The States (Dallas) *Timbergrove Circle(Kessler Park Dallas) *Trinity Heights *Twin Oaks *Vista Real * Western Park *Westmount (Dallas) *Wheatland Estates * Winnetka Heights * Wynnewood In addition, the Oak Cliff area encompasses

Cockrell Hill Cockrell Hill is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,193 at the 2010 census, and 3,815 in 2020. It is completely surrounded by the city of Dallas. History Cockrell Hill was established by the pioneer Brentwood A ...

, a separate municipality which is an

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

of Dallas.

Transportation

Light rail

DART Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Dar ...

** Dallas Zoo Station ** Tyler/Vernon Station ** Hampton Station ** Westmoreland Station

Streetcar

The

Dallas Streetcar The Dallas Streetcar is a modern streetcar line in Dallas, Texas. It is owned by the city of Dallas and operated by Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which also operates Dallas's DART Light Rail system. Construction on the line began in May 2013,''Tra ...

is a modern-streetcar line connecting Oak Cliff with downtown Dallas. It opened in April 2015, and extensions are planned.

Highways

* Interstate 35E *

U.S. Highway 67 U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues so ...

Education

Public

The

Dallas Independent School District The Dallas Independent School District (Dallas ISD or DISD) is a school district based in Dallas, Texas (USA). It operates schools in much of Dallas County and is the second-largest school district in Texas and the seventeenth-largest in the U ...

operates district public schools. Zoned high schools within the Oak Cliff area: *

W.H. Adamson High School William Hardin Adamson High School, formerly Oak Cliff High School, is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas Independent School District and is classified as a 5A school ...

- 4A - ''Western'' (The replacement campus opened in 2012) * Sunset High School - 5A * Franklin D. Roosevelt High School - 4A - ''eastern'' *

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a ...

- 5A - ''southern'' * David W. Carter High School - 5A *

Justin F. Kimball High School Justin F. Kimball High School is a public secondary school in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It enrolls students in grades 9–12, and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. The school is named in honor of J ...

- 4A *

Moisés E. Molina High School Moisés E. Molina High School is a public secondary school in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas (USA). Molina High School is part of the Dallas Independent School District and serves students from parts of southwestern Dallas and parts of Cockrel ...

- 5A * A.W Brown Fellowship Leadership Academy Charter School Optional high schools within the Oak Cliff area: * New Tech High School *

Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy at A. Maceo Smith (BOMLA) is a magnet secondary school for boys located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas. It is a part of the Dallas Independent School District.Williams, Shawn P.DISD’s Barack Obama Mal ...

(all male) *

Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center The Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Magnet Center (TMC) is a complex of schools in East Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas, United States. The school names reflects the view of downtown Dallas.Macias, Anna.Starting this school was hard work. Hiring team of exper ...

In 2011 the district closed Maynard Jackson Middle School. Prior to summer 2011 the community often complained about poor conditions at the school. DISD rezoned the students to Kennedy Curry Middle School in southern

. Zan Wesley Holmes Jr. Middle School, which opened in 2012, is in Oak Cliff. Rosemont Elementary School is located in North Oak Cliff. In 2015 of ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' wrote that it had "strong academics, passionate students and devoted parents" and that it "is considered a neighborhood gem in North Oak Cliff". The parents stated that principal Anna Brining had worked to make the school strong; in 2015 DISD notified Brining that her contract will not be renewed. In addition, Life School, a state charter school operator, has the K-12 Oak Cliff campus.

Private

High schools

Bishop Dunne Catholic School Bishop Dunne Catholic School is a college preparatory middle / high school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas (USA). In 2004, it was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Lighthouse Award in regards for its continued academic excell ...

- TAPPS *Tyler Street Christian Academy - TAPPS

Post-secondary

University of North Texas at Dallas The University of North Texas at Dallas (UNTD) is a public university in Dallas, Texas. It opened in 2000 as a branch campus of the University of North Texas, offering upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in multiple disciplines. In 20 ...

Paul Quinn College Paul Quinn College (PQC) is a Private college, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist college in Dallas, Texas. The college is affiliated with the African Methodist E ...

* Christ for the Nations Institute * Mountain View College (part of the Dallas County Community College system)

In popular culture

Oak Cliff has been home to a long list of musicians. When

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''Roll ...

made his debut with Columbia in 1929, he lived in Oak Cliff, and recorded as Oak Cliff T-Bone.

Edie Brickell Edie Arlisa Brickell (born March 10, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter widely known for 1988's ''Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars'', the debut album by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians, which went to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' albums chart. ...

's second album included a song about life in Oak Cliff titled "Oak Cliff Bra". Other musicians from Oak Cliff include

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...

, rap artist

MO3 MO3 is a tracker module file format developed by Ian Luck for the BASSMOD engine. MO3 files contain samples encoded in the MP3 or Ogg Vorbis formats, rather than straight PCM samples. This results in reduced file size for the module, while main ...

Yella Beezy Markies Deandre Conway (born October 21, 1991), known by the stage name Yella Beezy, is an American rapper from Dallas, Texas. He is best known for the singles " That's On Me", "Bacc At It Again", "Up One", and "Goin Through Some Thangs". Earl ...

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

B. W. Stevenson Louis Charles "B.W." Stevenson (October 5, 1949 – April 28, 1988) was an American country pop singer and musician, working in a genre now called progressive country. "B.W." stood for "Buckwheat". Stevenson was born in Dallas, Texas, United S ...

The D.O.C. Tracy Lynn Curry (born June 10, 1968), better known as The D.O.C., is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. In addition to a solo career, he was a member of the Southern hip hop group Fila Fresh Crew and later collaborated with ga ...

Ray Wylie Hubbard Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Hubbard was born in the town of Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas, Texas, in 1954. He attended W. H. Adamson High Schoo ...

and

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Vaughan (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Several notable blues guitarists have had a significant ...

. Actors

Yvonne Craig Yvonne Joyce Craig (May 16, 1937 – August 17, 2015) was an American actress and ballerina, who was renowned for her role as Batgirl in the 1960s television series '' Batman''. Other notable roles in her career include Dorothy Johnson in the 19 ...

(television's first Batgirl) and

Stephen Tobolowsky Stephen Harold Tobolowsky (born May 30, 1951) is an American character actor. He is known for film roles such as insurance agent Ned Ryerson in ''Groundhog Day'' and amnesiac Sammy Jankis in '' Memento'', as well as such television characters as ...

lived in Oak Cliff. Oak Cliff is home to the Sour Grapes art collective, founded by Carlos Donjuan, with his brothers Arturo and Miguel in 2000. The collective has murals throughout the Dallas area. Former NBA Player and now Hall of Famer

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding ...

grew up in Oak Cliff.

Omar Gonzalez Omar Alejandro Gonzalez (born October 11, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a center-back for the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. A college soccer player for the Maryland Terrapins, he joined the LA G ...

, a defender for

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and the U.S. national team, was born and raised in Oak Cliff. Oak Cliff is the home of the

Texas Theatre The Texas Theatre is a movie theater and Dallas landmark located in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. It gained historical significance on November 22, 1963, as the location of Lee Harvey Oswald's arrest over the suspicion he was the ...

, located in West Jefferson Boulevard, where former resident

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

, the man suspected of killing

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

and shooting

Dallas Police The Dallas Police Department, established in 1881, is the principal law enforcement agency serving the city of Dallas, Texas. Organization The department is headed by a chief of police who is appointed by the city manager who, in turn, is hir ...

officer

JD Tippit J. D. Tippit (September 18, 1924 – November 22, 1963) was an American World War II U.S Army veteran and police officer who served as an 11-year veteran with the Dallas Police Department. About 45 minutes after the assassination of John F. ...

at 10th and Patton Streets, was arrested. The theater has appeared in many books and movies on the Kennedy assassination, including

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

's 1991 film, ''

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

''. On November 22, 1963, Warren "Butch" Burroughs, who ran the concession stand at the theatre, said that Oswald came into the theater between 1:00 and 1:07 pm; he also claimed he sold Oswald popcorn at 1:15 p.m. Julia Postal later said that Burroughs initially told her the same thing although he later denied this. Theatre patron, Jack Davis, also corroborated Burroughs' time, claiming he observed Oswald in the theatre prior to 1:20 pm. Oak Cliff is the setting of ''City Limit'', the novel by Lantzee Miller is a coming-of-age story and metaphorical portrait of the beginning of Oak Cliff's recent rebirth and self redefinition. Legendary Dallas radio station KLIF (the call letters survive today on different frequencies on both AM and FM) was named after Oak Cliff, the community the station was originally licensed to cover when it was founded in 1947.

References

External links

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Map of North Oak Cliff Neighborhoods
{{Coord missing, Texas Former cities in Texas Populated places established in 1886