Photo courtesy of Susan Lee and the Elmwood Neighborhood Association.
On Sunday Dec. 8, Oak Cliff residents gathered in Elmwood for a centennial celebration.
Elmwood Secretary Carson Henderson compiled information about Elmwood and its 100-year history. Here’s the rundown.
Established in 1924, Elmwood is situated in the heart of Oak Cliff. Originally the location of the Tennessee Dairy Farm, the neighborhood is now 1500 homes, a soon-to-be renovated downtown district with local services, an elementary school, churches, restaurants, and coffee shops. Elmwood is also home to a 16-acre greenbelt dedicated as a City of Dallas linear park in 1945.
Elmwood began as the Tennessee Dairy Farm 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 Avenue, near Elmwood Boulevard. After a fire destroyed the farm in 1919, Mr. Waters moved production to Deep Ellum, desiring a near-downtown location in order to expedite deliveries.
Photo courtesy of Susan Lee and the Elmwood Neighborhood Association.
In 1924, real estate developer Frank G. Jester 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. Construction slowed during the Great Depression but boomed in the post-war years, continuing until the 1950s.
The late 1950s and early 1960s were a time of great prosperity for most of Oak Cliff, with many businesses catering to the new Baby Boomer generation. One such business, Austin’s Bar-B-Cue on the corner of Hampton Road and Illinois Avenue, reigned as the destination of choice for thousands of diners with its sliced beef sandwiches, fries, coleslaw, beans, ribs, steaks and “to-die-for” burgers.
Dallas Police officer J. D. Tippit (killed in the JFK assassination) moonlighted at Austin’s, working security on weekends. Austin’s closed in July 2000 when it was replaced by an Eckerd pharmacy, which is now the CVS.
For a while, Elmwood’s claim to fame was its cameo in Tom Cruise’s 1989 film, “Born on the Fourth of July.” Margaret B. Henderson was used for activist and Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic’s high school, while Edgefield Avenue was transformed for two parade sequences set in Massapequa, New York. Tom Cruise later paid for a half-page advertisement in the Oak Cliff Tribune to thank Oak Cliff for its hospitality.
Today, Elmwood is the center of Oak Cliff and its biggest neighborhood with Tudor Homes and Cottages surrounding our Downtown Elmwood, with walking trails along the creek and greenbelt.
Part of Elmwood’s charm has always been its own downtown area with a small business district at the intersection of Edgefield Avenue and Ferndale Avenue. This area features Henderson Elementary School, a collection of unique small commercial buildings, professional offices, restaurants, coffee shops, a Masonic Hall, and several places of worship.
In the last couple of years, there has been the buzzing of new business in the neighborhood. First Olmo Market opened. Then Peaberry Coffee, which is now B-Side Coffee, Oak Cliff Pilates and Herby’s Burgers. Slow and Steady Coffee stands as a welcome marker into Elmwood.
With the City of Dallas passing the historic bond in 2024, Elmwood should continue to prosper in the coming years.
