The Elmwood neighborhood is celebrating 100 years this weekend with a centennial celebration and market.
The family-friendly event is for all ages and held in the heart of downtown Elmwood. There will be dozens of vendors, food, a bounce house, cake walk, live music, and more.
The celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2150 S Edgefield Ave.
According to the Heritage Oak Cliff website, Elmwood began as the Tennessee Dairy founded by Lindsley Waters in 1907. With just 20 cows and covering 640 acres, the dairy was a corporate operation and a modern facility that was the first in Dallas to deliver pasteurized milk in glass bottles, even winning “most sanitary dairy farm” at the 1908 State Fair of Texas.
Remnants of the farm exist to this day, including a house on Brunner Avenue reputed to be the dairy foreman’s quarters and portions of an old stone wall that divided the farm, which are visible along the 1700 block of S. Edgefield near Elmwood Blvd. After a fire destroyed the farm in 1919, Mr. Waters moved production to Deep Ellum east of downtown Dallas in order to expedite deliveries.
In 1924, real estate developer Frank G. Jester (1867-1963) purchased the land from Southwest National Bank and platted the Elmwood Addition, selling quality homes in a “park-like” and “restful” setting just outside the southern boundary of Oak Cliff at the time. He advertised homes through a creative and aggressive marketing campaign in The Dallas Morning News.
