Hidden City

For this episode, we’re changing things up a bit. Instead of our usual format, we’re telling this story as a more traditional true-crime narrative, taking you inside the investigation and following the clues as they unfold.In 1990, three women connected to the street life along Jefferson Boulevard were murdered in a series of killings that would become one of Dallas’ most notorious true-crime cases. As police searched for a connection, the women who knew Jefferson Boulevard best began sharing what they knew about the men, cars, and encounters happening on the street.

On April 2, 1957, a powerful tornado tore through Oak Cliff, hitting the Kessler Theater, destroying homes and businesses, and eventually crossing the Trinity into West Dallas. Ten people were killed and around 200 were injured, but the tornado also became an important moment in the history of tornado research. Photographed and filmed from all over Dallas, the storm gave scientists an unprecedented look at how tornadoes move and behave. More than 60 years later, its path can still be traced through Oak Cliff, and the Kessler Theater still stands as one of the most visible reminders of the day the tornado came through.

Barry and Sandra Nash have called Oak Cliff home for more than 40 years. They join us to talk about what Oak Cliff was like when they first moved here in 1980, the changes they’ve watched unfold over the decades, and the people and places that shaped the neighborhood along the way.We talk about the evolution of Bishop Arts, raising a family in Oak Cliff, Barry’s unexpected career coaching some of television’s biggest names, Sandra’s career in medical aesthetics, and what makes Oak Cliff’s diversity and sense of community so special.

Before B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, there was T-Bone Walker. Born Aaron Thibeaux Walker, he grew up in Oak Cliff’s Tenth Street neighborhood, where he was surrounded by music and crossed paths with some of the blues’ earliest legends, including Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lead Belly. We trace T-Bone’s journey from Tenth Street and the Bottoms to the stages of Los Angeles and around the world and come back home to explore what remains of the Oak Cliff that helped create him.

Haley Leavitt joins us to share how she found her place in Oak Cliff’s creative community and how an experiment involving salvaged church pews grew into the Oak Cliff Art Walk. What began with 35 artists inside the then-vacant Oak Cliff Assembly drew nearly 1,000 people and has since become an annual platform for artists, residents, and community organizations across the neighborhood.We also talk about Haley’s work in business and community development at Proxy Properties, the transformation of historic spaces like the Oak Cliff Assembly and East Dock Oak Cliff, and the relationship between art and real estate development. Haley reflects on restoring old buildings without erasing their stories, inviting artists into the process, and creating places where Oak Cliff’s existing community can remain visible and connected.