Oak Lawn is a neighborhood in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

), defined in Dallas City Ordinance 21859 as Planned Development District No. 193, the Oak Lawn Special Purpose District. The unofficial boundaries are

Turtle Creek Boulevard Turtle Creek Boulevard is a thoroughfare that runs through the Turtle Creek, Dallas, Turtle Creek neighborhood of Oak Lawn, Dallas, Oak Lawn, Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Texas (United States, USA), generally alongside the actual Turtle Creek (Dallas ...

, Central Expressway, the City of Highland Park, Inwood Road, and

Harry Hines Boulevard Harry Hines Blvd where Dallas North Tollway starts Harry Hines Boulevard is a major street in Dallas, Texas, ( USA), to the west of Uptown. It was one of the first 'highways' in Texas, and is named for Harry Hines in honor of his work help ...

. It is over in area. Officially it is bounded by the City of Highland Park, the

North Central Expressway North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Stemmons Freeway Interstate 35E (I-35E), a north–south Interstate Highway, is the eastern half of I-35, where it splits to serve the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. I-35 splits into two branch routes, I-35W and I-35E, at Hillsboro. I-35E travels ...

Woodall Rodgers Freeway Woodall may refer to: People Given name * Woodall Rodgers (1890–1961), attorney, businessman and mayor of Dallas Surname * Al Woodall (born 1945), American football player * Corbet Woodall (1929–1982), British newsreader for the BBC * Derek W ...

, and other roads. The district is within the boundary defined by the City of Dallas law, excluding any existing planned development districts within.

About

Oak Lawn is one of the wealthier areas of metropolitan Dallas, with the population consisting mainly of urban professionals. The area is peppered with upscale townhouses, condos, apartments, and duplexes. Along the Uptown portion on McKinney Avenue and along

, there are many new high-rise condominiums and apartments. It is also a very diverse neighborhood with well established areas of older, single family homes. For most of the 20th century the southern portion of the neighborhood near the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Harry Hines Blvd was known as "Little Mexico". St. Anne's Catholic school served as the center for the community. With the redevelopment of the neighborhood beginning in the 1980s Little Mexico vanished. Only a few structures of this original community remain for most have been replaced by high rise office buildings, luxury hotels, and condominiums. As of 2010, St Ann's Catholic School, which had closed, is now an upscale restaurant. Oak Lawn became a magnet for the counterculture movement in the late 1960s due to its inexpensive apartments and its proximity to Turtle Creek Park (formerly known as Lee Park and Oak Lawn Park). The Station 4 nightclub can be found on Cedar Springs Road.

Geography

Neighborhoods

* International Center * Love Field neighborhood * Turtle Creek * Maple, Dallas * Perry Heights

Government and infrastructure

The

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

operates the Oak Lawn Post Office at 2825 Oak Lawn Avenue; ZIP Code: 75219. The

Federal Bureau of Prisons The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for all List of United States federal prisons, federal prisons ...

South Central Region Office was previously in Oak Lawn. It has since moved to the U.S. Armed Forces Reserve Complex in

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Dallas County, Texas, Dallas, Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant, and Ellis County, Texas, Ellis counties with a small part extending into Johnson County, Texas , Johnson county. It ...

Diplomatic missions

The Consulate-General of the United Kingdom in Dallas was located in Suite 940 at 2911 Turtle Creek Boulevard. In April 2005 the British government announced that it was closing the Dallas consulate in the summer of 2005; its territory was transferred to the consulate-general in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. It was one of 19 British diplomatic missions shut down around that time period.Allen, Margaret.
Dallas' British Consulate to close in money-saving move
" ''

Dallas Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

''. Friday April 1, 2005. Retrieved on May 9, 2009. The

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

of the United Kingdom said that the consulates and embassies closed as a way to decrease costs. The Consulate-General of Mexico in Dallas is also located in Oak Lawn. Alfredo Corchado 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 in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' said that as of 2009, in terms of activity and size of the area Mexican population, the Dallas consulate is considered to be the third most important Mexican consulate after

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

.Corchado, Alfredo.
Mexico removing Dallas consul general
" ''

''. Saturday August 15, 2009. Retrieved on August 27, 2009. The consulate moved from 8855 North

to 1210 River Bend Drive in January 2009.

Education

Public schools

The public schools in Oak Lawn are part of the

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

and ar
zoned
among the following: * Ben Milam Elementary School * Esperanza "Hope" Medrano Elementary School * Maple Lawn Elementary School *

North Dallas High School North Dallas High School is a public secondary school located in the Oak Lawn area of Dallas, Texas, United States. It enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a part of the Dallas Independent School District. As of 2017, the principal administ ...

* Sam Houston Elementary School * T. J. Rusk Middle School The William B. Travis Academy/Vanguard for the Academically Talented and Gifted is located near McKinney Avenue and Oak Grove Avenue. In 2014-2015 its student body was 95% low income; despite that it exceeded its "performance targets". Due to

gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...

, Sam Houston's enrollment declined to 201 students in the 2015-2016 school year while it had 302 students in the 2011-2012 school year. Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women's Leadership School was previously in Oak Lawn.

Private schools

Holy Trinity Catholic School
age 3 through 8th grade.
Dallas Christian Academy
prekindergarten through 12th grade. The Walt Whitman Community School (WWCS), an LGBT-oriented private school, was established in 1997 in Oak Lawn.Fowler, Jimmy. "School's out." ''

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 ...

''. November 13, 1997. p
1
(). Retrieved on September 22, 2014. It closed in 2004.

Public Libraries

The Oak Lawn Branch of the

Dallas Public Library The Dallas Public Library (DPL) is the public library system that serves the city of Dallas, Texas, United States. With more than 4 million items and 30 locations, the Dallas Public Library is the largest public library system in North Texas. A ...

serves the Oak Lawn area. In addition to its regular library holdings, it has the only circulating, non-reference collection of LGBT materials in the US.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Central Expressway (

US 75 U.S. Route 75 is a north–south U.S. Highway that runs in the central United States. The highway's northern terminus is located at the Canadian border near Noyes, Minnesota, at a now-closed border crossing. From this point, the highway ...

) flanks the community on the east. Texas Spur 366

Spur 366, known locally as Woodall Rodgers Freeway, runs along the southern border of the community. The Lomac and Uptown portions of Oak Lawn are served by the free

M-Line Trolley The M-Line Trolley (previously McKinney Avenue Trolley) is a heritage streetcar line in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. The trolley line, which has been in service since 1989, is notable for its use of restored historic streetcar veh ...

, provided by the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority. The and light-rail lines stop at

Cityplace Station Cityplace/Uptown station (formerly Cityplace station) is a DART light rail station located in Dallas, Texas. The station is located on the , , and serves the Cityplace and Uptown districts. It also serves as a transfer point to the M-Line Tr ...

, right outside Oak Lawn. Just outside Oak Lawn to the southwest is Victory Station in Victory Park, which is served by the , both red and blue lines during special events, and regularly by the Green and Orange light rail lines. The two lines continue to the northwest, stopping at Market Center Station and Southwestern Medical District/Parkland Station within Oak Lawn. * DART: and

Culture

An African American Man at the Oaklawn Halloween Block Party

Oak Lawn is considered to be the epicenter of

Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

culture. Cedar Springs Road, between Oak Lawn Avenue and Wycliff Avenue, has numerous businesses, retail establishments, restaurants and night clubs catering to the

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

community. The area has some of Dallas' most renowned

gay bar A gay bar is a Bar (establishment), drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer (LGBTQ+) clientele; the term ''gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBTQ+ communi ...

s and

nightclubs A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and ...

, most of which are located along, or close to, Cedar Springs Road. Oak Lawn is contiguous with the Dallas Design District and less than two miles away from

Downtown Dallas Downtown Dallas is the central business district (CBD) of 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 traditionally ...

. The area also hosts some of the larger city festivals including the annual

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

street festival, Dallas' Gay

Pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...

, and Easter in the Park at Oak Lawn Park (formerly Robert E. Lee Park). In 2014, Dallas's Oak Lawn was voted the number one

gayborhood A gay village, also known as a gayborhood or gaybourhood, is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries that is inhabited or frequented by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Gay villages often ...

by Out Traveler. In October 2018, Dallas made history when it became the first Texas city to get state recognition for its Oak Lawn LGBT neighborhood. There is a large concentration of Hispanic owned businesses, restaurants, grocery stores, nightclubs, and retail establishments on the Maple Avenue corridor between the Inwood Road and the North Dallas Tollway.

Architecture

Oak Lawn is one of the older neighborhoods in Dallas. Continuous redevelopment of the neighborhood has created a mixture of architectural styles spanning much of the 20th century to the present day. Measuring by structural height, the tallest buildings in or adjacent to Oak Lawn are as follows: # Cityplace Center, (42 floors) # W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences, (32 floors) # Azure, (31 floors) # 1900 McKinney (26 floors) # Mayfair at Turtle Creek, (24 floors) # 2500 McKinney, (25 floors) # Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, (21 floors) # 17 Seventeen McKinney (22 floors) # Residences on McKinney, (22 floors) # La Tour Condominiums (22 floors) # McKinney Avenue Lofts (21 floors) # The Ashton (20 floors) # The Mondrian (20 floors) # The Vendome, (20 floors)

References

Emporis Emporis was a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. The company collected data and photographs of buildings worldwide, which were published in an online database from 2000 to September 2022. Emporis was acquired ...

.com., World / North America / U.S.A. / Dallas TX .

External links

The Oak Lawn Committee, Inc.

GayDFW events/nightlife/restaurants in Oaklawn, Dallas, Fort Worth
{{Dallas Gay villages in Texas LGBTQ culture in Texas