The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble in April. The town where he first made his mark, Austin, has a statue of the legendary bluesman.
Here in their hometown, Oak Cliff, a monument to Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan is in the works. The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs has $74,000 to pay for artwork honoring the musical brothers. And they’ve identified a spot for it in Kiest Park, near the Vaughan brothers’ childhood home.
As is the problem with much of the city’s public art, there is no funding for maintenance. So Vaughan supporters, including Oak Cliff resident Kirby Warnock, are raising money for that. They need to raise $68,000 to maintain the proposed artwork for 20 years. Anyone can contribute at vaughanbrosart.com.
Kiest Park is one of many Oak Cliff sites that were meaningful to the Vaughan brothers. We wanted to run down a few more of them.
The original 7-Eleven
345 S. Edgefield
The Vaughan brothers’ dad, “Big Jim,” worked at the original 7-Eleven store on Edgefield at 12th. This is where he met his wife to be, Martha Cook, after he returned home from World War II. Big Jim later was an asbestos worker; he died of asbestosis in 1986. Martha died in 2009.
The family home
2557 Glenfield
Jim and Martha Vaughan bought this modest three-bedroom, one-bathroom house in the late 1950s, and she lived there for approximately 50 years. Stevie lived there until 1972, when he dropped out of school and moved to Austin.
Lenore Kirk Hall Elementary School
2120 Keats
This elementary school opened in 1955 when Stevie Ray Vaughan was 1 year old and was built for $560,000. He learned to play the guitar at age 7; classmates from L.K. Hall remember him, even in elementary school, as a kid who was obsessed with guitar.
L.V. Stockard Middle School
2300 S. Ravinia
Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan attended L.V. Stockard Middle School and not Greiner, the Oak Cliff school more commonly associated with his legacy because of its music academy. The Vaughan brothers did attend the old YMCA, which is now the Greiner Middle School gym. The Stevie Ray Vaughn Memorial Scholarship, established by the artist’s mother and friends in 1993, is given annually to a Greiner music academy student. This year, about $16,000 was awarded.
