Lancaster Avenue Commercial Historic District

The Lancaster Avenue Commercial Historic District is Oak Cliff's oldest business district and one of the best concentrations of historic commercial buildings there. The district includes the heart of the suburb's original mercantile center that grew north along Lancaster Street from Jefferson Boulevard. Only one post-1944 property intrudes upon the district's historic character and ambiance. The district is eligible under Criterion C at the local level in the area of Architecture and is related to the historic context of Suburban Development in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas 1887-1944. The period of significance is from the construction 1920 of the oldest extant building in 1944, fifty years ago. Although no buildings date to the initial development of the area in the late 19th century, the extant properties remain symbolic of the long-standing role of the Lancaster Avenue commercial district in Oak Cliff's history.

The historic district lies within the original township of Oak Cliff dedicated on October 31, 1887. Before the suburb opened for development, its founders built a streetcar line linking the area with downtown Dallas. This line ran southeast along Jefferson Boulevard past Lancaster Avenue and the Historic District. One of the first buildings erected in Oak Cliff was a station house for the light railway near the intersection of Lancaster and 10th. Lancaster was an important north-south route in the early years of the original Oak Cliff township. The busy Lancaster and Jefferson intersection and the streetcar station created an ideal locale for the establishment of a commercial district.

The Lancaster commercial district became the primary business center in Oak Cliff in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1892, a small collection of 1- and 2-story commercial buildings facing Lancaster Avenue housed 11 stores, a bakery, a plumber, and a drugstore. The district changed little during its first decade, adding only four stores and two livery stables by 1899.

Other business districts later sprouted up as Oak Cliff pushed eastward. The North Bishop Avenue commercial district (part of this Multiple Property nomination) and the district at the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Beckley Street were notable examples. The commercial district along E. 10th Street in the 10th Street Addition developed in large part due to the institution of Jim Crow policies after the turn of the century. The color line was very fine in this case. Predominantly African-American-owned businesses just three blocks away from the Lancaster Avenue commercial district were sustained by a large African-American population, encouraged to dissociate themselves from the white majority.

By the 1910s and 1920s, commercial development along Jefferson Boulevard accelerated rapidly, reflecting the importance of the streetcar and interurban lines that ran along that thoroughfare (Sanborn: 1892, 1899). These new development pressures meant that some new commercial buildings would be constructed on lots that domestic buildings or older commercial buildings previously occupied. Other buildings within the historic district were constructed on the vacant property either as infill or by pushing the boundary of the district further west along Jefferson. All of the Contributing buildings in the historic district share a common vocabulary of brick construction, 1- to 2-story massing, regular setbacks, and transom windows.

The properties within the historic district can be divided roughly into two groups. The oldest buildings, constructed from the mid-1910s to the mid-1920s, reflect the massing and simple vernacular lines of their 19th-century counterparts. The two vernacular one-part commercial block buildings at 111 N. Lancaster, 113 N. Lancaster, and the three-part building at 610-614 E. 10th Street are excellent examples of this type. They have simple corbelling and stepped parapets that allude to the wood frame commercial buildings of another era.

The second category comprises buildings constructed from the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s. Detailing has become more elaborate and particular style influences became evident. Note the eclectic combination of ceramic tiles and Tudor Revival side- and cross-gables on the building at 117-121 N. Lancaster. Spanish Colonial Revival influences also can be discerned on 606-608 E. 10th Street. Such details include the ceramic tile awning and elaborately carved wood brackets on the front facade.

Art Deco detailing can be found in the pilasters on 607-609 E. Jefferson Avenue and the chevron pilasters on 619-623 E. Jefferson Boulevard. Two buildings considered examples of a transition between the above categories are the one-part commercial block building at 611 E. Jefferson and the abstract Mission Revival store at 115 N. Lancaster (c. 1925, Site No. L7-7464; Photo 1). The former is much larger than any of the other retail buildings of its time and the latter blends demure stylistic details with materials, form and massing common to its older neighbors.

Lancaster Avenue Commercial Historic District reflects the prevailing tastes in commercial architecture in Oak Cliff and Dallas during the early 20th century. Except for the North Bishop Avenue Commercial Historic District (also part of this Multiple Property nomination), no other area in Oak Cliff boasts such a rich and well-preserved concentration of historic commercial architecture. The Lancaster Avenue Commercial Historic District has largely retained its cohesiveness and most of its buildings integrity.