Municipal Archives


​City of Oak Cliff, 1891-1904, 1930

Collection 1991-087

Overview

Repository ​Dallas Municipal Archives
Office of the City Secretary
1500 Marilla Street, 5D South
Dallas, Texas 75201
CreatorCity of Oak Cliff, Texas
Title City of Oak Cliff
Dates 1891-1904, 1930
Quantity 2 linear inches 
Abstract Manuscript ledger, typescript, photocopies relating to the history of Oak Cliff, Texas.
Identification 1991-087 
Language ​​Records are in English


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

Access​

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use by any and all other current or future developed methods or procedures must be obtained in writing from the Dallas Municipal Archives.  All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards.

Citation

City of Oak Cliff, 1891-1904, 1930 (Box <x>, Folder <y>), Dallas Municipal Archives

Related Material

​Index Terms

Dallas -- Texas -- History
Oak Cliff (Dallas, Tex.)
Oak Cliff (Dallas, Tex.) -- History

Container List 

BoxFolderTitle, Date
  Manuscript documents
 11Ordinances 1891-1901, Oak Cliff, manuscript ledger
 2Typescript ordinance granting the Dallas & Oak Cliff Electric Railway Company the right to construct, maintain, and operate  an electric street railway, 1903
 3Annexation of Oak Cliff, remarks by Ben Cabell, October 12, 1930
  Printed documents
 4Revised Civil and Criminal Ordinances of the City of Oak Cliff…, 1903
  Photocopied documents
 514th District Court Cause #22372 [Dallas County, Texas], City of Oak Cliff v. City of Dallas, 1903
 6Oak Cliff annexation ordinance [Ordinance Book #12, page 1], April 6, 1903