Bishop Arts District, Dallas


The Bishop Arts District is a small shopping and entertainment district in north Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas, near the intersection of Bishop Street and Davis Street. The Bishop Arts District is immediately southwest of Downtown Dallas.

History

The area was originally developed as warehouses and shops in the 1920s. In the 1930s, a trolley stop along Davis became Dallas' busiest trolley stop. The district began a decline in the mid-60's through the beginning of the 80's. The reasons for the decline included the rise of the shopping mall, the loss of sizable tenants such as Astor theater and Goodier Cosmetics, neighborhood demographic changes and finally the fact that buses began to replace streetcars making trolley stops like Bishop and Seventh useless.
In the fall of 1984, Jim Lake saw a bargain in the now run down storefronts and began buying up property. He said, "Hopefully we'll make money on this in the future, but in the first three to five years I'm gonna feed it." Lake said of his decision to buy the property, "I just thought it needed saving." As a sign of his commitment, Lake provided, rent-free for a year, space for a police storefront. This was an important element in the area's security and sense of community. Continuing through the 1990s and 2000s, renovations have taken place to transform the two city blocks into a walkable, urban environment, although the surrounding area has yet to undergo revitalization. Murals, brick pavers, and other street elements have polished the rough look of the warehouses and have made the area a popular leisure and dining destination.
The area culture has continued to mature with the expanding Oak Cliff Film Festival, which has garnered media attention from Texas Monthly and New York Times.
A portion of the district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the North Bishop Avenue Commercial Historic District.

Transportation

The district can be reached via several Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus routes and from downtown on the Dallas Streetcar.

Education

The Bishop Arts District is served by the Dallas Independent School District.
Residents of the Bishop Arts District are zoned to John H. Reagan Elementary School, W.E. Greiner Middle School, and W.H. Adamson High School.