1 South of Jefferson Boulevard

This building is now the Dallas office of the LULAC National Education Service Centers, which provides academic support to 130 low-income students in Dallas ISD. About 90 years ago, it was the site of the first 7-Eleven. Oak Cliff-raised Joe C. Thompson Jr., known as “Jodie,” started as a stable boy for Consumer Ice Co. in the days before refrigeration, when ice boxes kept food cool. He later became director of Oak Cliff’s Southland Ice Co. John Jefferson Green operated the Southland-owned ice dock on Edgefield at Twelfth. In 1927, he had the idea to sell milk, eggs and bread from the dock, and the concept of a modern convenience store was born.

The 263-acre park was donated to the City of Dallas in 1931 by Edwin J. Kiest, who was publisher of the Dallas Times Herald, and named for his wife, Elizabeth Patterson Kiest. Find the recently installed sculpture dedicated to Oak Cliff’s famous musical brothers, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, who grew up nearby. Kiest Park was known as a teen hangout from the get-go, and kids cruised their jalopies there from the 1930s. The Friends of Oak Cliff Parks restored the 2.5-acre historic memorial garden and pushed the City of Dallas to fund restoration of the Works Progress Administration-era pergola and water rill to its 1934 appearance. This park is also the site of a 1937 bike race, the Texas state bicycle racing championships, which included men’s and women’s races.

Sunset High School was built in 1925 and became a Dallas Historic Landmark in 2016. A $46-million renovation, expected to be complete in 2023, includes construction of a 1,000-seat competition gym but will not disturb the historic façade. Famous alumni include actresses Linda Darnell and Yvonne Craig; writers Terry Southern and Billy Lee Brammer; LPGA founders Bettye Mims Danoff and Betty Jameson; and former Dallas Mayor Robert S. Folsom.

Also see: Cedar Crest House, the white mansion across Jefferson Boulevard from Sunset, was built in 1905 and is also a Dallas Historic Landmark. Turner House, 401 N. Rosemont, was built in 1908 and is an event space owned by the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts, a club founded by artist Frank Reaugh in 1926.