Overview

Scope and Contents​​

Ledger book of ordinances, typescript documents, and photocopied items documenting the history and annexation of the City of Oak Cliff, Texas, to the City of Dallas, Texas, in 1903.

The City of Oak Cliff, Texas was created in 1887 by land developers Thomas L. Marsalis and John S. Armstrong on the site of a community called Hord’s Ridge, settled in 1845.  Incorporated in 1891, Oak Cliff grew to a population of 3,640 and governed itself until 1903 when a depressed economy prompted a vote for annexation to the City of Dallas.  The annexation was unsuccessfully challenged by the last administration of the City of Oak Cliff.

The collection contains a bound ledger documenting the incorporation and early civil and criminal ordinances of Oak Cliff, from 1891 to 1901.  It also contains a printed copy of the 1903 Revised Civil and Criminal [Code] Ordinances of the City of Oak Cliff; a 1930 typescript one-page memoir by Dallas Mayor Ben E. Cabell regarding the annexation of Oak Cliff, a 1903 typescript railway ordinance,  photocopies of the 1904 District Court suit brought by the City of Oak Cliff against the City of Dallas challenging annexation, and a photocopy of the April 4, 1903 City of Dallas ordinance annexing Oak Cliff.

The collection is organized in order of original documents, printed material, and photocopies.  The original copy of the City of Dallas annexation ordinance is found in the Ordinance Books in the Dallas Municipal Archives.  The 14th District Court original records are found in the Dallas/Texas History Division, Dallas Public Library.

Organization

The collection is arranged by the following subjects:

• Manuscript documents

• Printed documents

• Photocopied documents