Oak Cliff Trolley — 1895
by Paula Bosse
“Dallas from Oak Cliff” by Henry Stark, 1895/96 (click for larger image)
by Paula Bosse
As present-day trolley service to Oak Cliff has been in the news in recent months, here’s a pastoral view of a little trolley chugging through the wilds of Oak Cliff in 1895. In the background, across the river, the still-fairly-new courthouse looms like a mirage. Below are a few details, magnified. (All images are much larger when clicked.) Enjoy!
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Photo (labeled by the Houston Public Library as “Trolley moving through the woods”) is by Henry Stark, taken on a visit to Dallas in the winter of 1895/96; from the collection of the Houston Public Library — it can be viewed here.
For more on Henry Stark, see the previous post “Henry Stark’s ‘Bird’s Eye View of Dallas,'” here.
Other photos which I’ve “Zoomed In On the Details” can be seen here.
CLICK PHOTOS — REAL BIG.
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Copyright © 2014 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
[…] For another Henry Stark photo, see the post “Oak Cliff Trolley — 1895,” here. […]
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Love this blog! I love to read about old Dallas. Thanks!
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Thank you, Kim! Glad you made it here!
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Simply an amazing find. Thanks for featuring this.
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Thanks, Christy! I love this little trolley.
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Great photo Paula. Don’t know of you’ve given any consideration to the location but I would place it about Comal Street where Gardner Park would soon be built. The dirt road in the foreground would be have been the predecessor to Jefferson.
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Thanks, MC! I’m afraid my knowledge of Oak Cliff is sadly lacking. Wherever it is, it used to have a great view of the courthouse!
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[…] This wonderful detail of a photograph by Henry Stark shows a trolley chugging through a rural and woody Oak Cliff in 1895: an example of 19th-century mass transit in Dallas. See the full post from last year — which includes the original photo and three other magnified details — here. […]
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[…] a photo when it was in its original rickety state, back in 1895 (this is a detail of a larger photo, taken on the Oak Cliff side of the river, with the trestle — and the not-yet-old Old Red […]
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