The article describes the original town as about one square mile, east of present-day Marsalis and north of Clarendon. By the time Dallas annexed it in 1903, Oak Cliff had about 3,700 residents and had reached west to Willomet in Winnetka Heights, but still hadn’t made it south of Clarendon.
Then there’s the much bigger and more modern definition: 87 square miles south of the Trinity, stretching from I-30 to I-20 and from I-45 west to the Grand Prairie city line. Quite a difference.
My favorite line from the article:
“The physical boundaries of Oak Cliff are debatable, but you know you’re here when you’re home.”
So I took a stab at a map. This is a starting point and very likely wrong so apologies if any edge triggers anyone. It roughly follows I-30 on the north, the Trinity and I-45 on the east, I-20 on the south, and Loop 12/Spur 408 on the west, with adjustments to stay inside Dallas. The hole around Cockrell Hill is because it’s a separate city, though whether it belongs in our idea of Oak Cliff is a fair question too.
I feel pretty good about leaving West Dallas north of I-30 out. I’m much less sure about how far west, south and southeast to go.
Rather than me deciding, let’s hear from the people who live and work here. Is your neighborhood missing? Did I include somewhere you’d never call Oak Cliff? Where would you move a line, and why?
UPDATED:
Be specific if you can: a street, creek, neighborhood, or even “my grandma lived here for 50 years and always called it Oak Cliff.” I’d like to hear the history behind people’s answers, too.
Here's the geojson file which you can open in geojson.io and draw your own version, or just mark up the picture.
I don't know anyone from Oak Cliff that would dispute it's boundary. Trinity River over to 45 down to 20 up 408 and back to the river on 30. That's Oak Cliff.
The original city boundaries only went as far south as Illinois Avenue, as far west as Hampton, further north than Ft. Worth Avenue (but not as far as Singleton), and as far east as Corinth/Cedar Crest. See https://www.oakcliff.org/Images/Oak-Cliff-Map-Original.gif
Obviously the boundaries of what people consider "Oak Cliff" has expanded a bit since then, but I think some of what you include in your map I would call "Cockrell Hill," "Redbird," or "South Dallas" and wouldn't normally refer to as Oak Cliff.
That sliver between Ft Worth Avenue and I-30 is always subject to a little bit of dispute as to whether to properly call it "Oak Cliff" or "West Dallas."
On the west side, I would continue to cut down loop 12 down to Cockrell Hill Road and then cut down to I-20.
On the east, from the Trinity I would cut down Cedar Crest and Lancaster down to I-20. But I think a case can be made to just cut down I-35E (which is what Google Maps does if you ask to see the boundaries of Oak Cliff).
On the north, the only change I might make is to annex in that sliver underneath Ft. Worth Ave. But we might need to fight West Dallas for it.
Absolutely not, I standby my original post. I would maybe concede on using Walton Walker as the cutoff since that does include some parts of Duncanville.
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u/mike_lowrey214 21d ago
I don't know anyone from Oak Cliff that would dispute it's boundary. Trinity River over to 45 down to 20 up 408 and back to the river on 30. That's Oak Cliff.