Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas
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Deep Ellum (a corruption of "deep Elm Street") is an arts and entertainment district near downtown in east Dallas, Texas (USA). It lies directly east of the elevated I-45/US 75 (unsigned I-345) freeway and extends to Exposition Avenue, connected to downtown by, from north to south, Pacific, Elm, Main, Commerce, and Canton streets. The neighborhood is north of Exposition Park and south of Bryan Place. (See Deep Ellum Blues for maps.)
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[edit] History
[edit] Industrial beginnings
The area got its start in 1884 when Robert S. Munger built his first factory, for the Munger Improved Cotton Machine Company, in what is now Deep Ellum. In 1913, Henry Ford opened an assembly plant here to supplement the manufacture of the Ford Model T at the Detroit plant. In 1916, the first building built for and by blacks in Dallas—The Grand Temple of the Black Knights of Pythias—was built in Deep Ellum.[1]
[edit] Jazz and blues
Starting in 1920 and crescendoing into the 1930s, Deep Ellum became distinguished as a prime jazz and blues hotspot in the South. Artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, and Bessie Smith played in Deep Ellum clubs like The Harlem and The Palace.
In 1937, a columnist described Deep Ellum as:
| “ | ...[the] one spot in the city that needs no daylight saving time because there is no bedtime...[It is] the only place recorded on earth where business, religion, hoodooism, gambling and stealing goes on at the same time without friction...Last Saturday a prophet held the best audience in this 'Madison Square Garden' in announcing that Jesus Christ would come to Dallas in person in 1939. At the same time a pickpocket was lifting a week's wages from another guy's pocket, who stood with open mouth to hear the prophecy.[2] | ” |
At the time, you could find gun and locksmith shops, clothing stores, the Cotton Club, tattoo studios, barber-shops, pawn shops, drugstores, tea rooms, loan offices, domino halls, pool halls, and walk-up hotels. On its sidewalks you could find pigeon droppers, reefer men, craps shooters, card sharps, and sellers of cocaine and marijuana.[2] Sometime around World War I, Leadbelly and Blind Lemon Jefferson got together and began composing folk tunes, with Dallas often in the lyrics. In a song called "Ella Speed":
| “ | Walked up Ellum an' I come down Main, Tryin' to bum a nickel jes' to buy cocaine. Ho, Ho, baby, take a whiff on me.[2] |
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Another song about Deep Ellum, "Deep Ellum Blues", included:
| “ | When you go down on Deep Ellum, Put your money in your socks 'Cause them Women on Deep Ellum Sho' will throw you on the rocks. (chorus) |
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[edit] Expanded scene
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During the 1960s and 1970s, Deep Ellum was largely a warehouse and industrial district which started to attract artists to the cheap loft space that was available. One of the first was a 1982 "nightclub" called Studio D on Main Street featuring local punk bands like Stick Men With Ray Guns and The Hugh Beaumont Experience. In fact, the "club" was nothing more than an empty warehouse equipped with a drum riser, and a card table by the door to collect the $2 cover charge and home to empressario Frank Campagna. However, such an unassuming environment was the perfect place for the early punk bands, and many national acts played here, including The Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and The Meat Puppets.
While Studio D certainly represented the punk rock audience, the first live music venue to feature a broad cross section of musicians, visual artists, performance artists and theatre performers was the Theatre Gallery. This venue hosted live shows by Bad Brains, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 10,000 Maniacs, Edie Brickell and New Bohemians, Decadent Dub Team, Flaming Lips, End Over End (Band) (who was the first local band to perform at TG as "The End"), Three On a Hill and Shallow Reign. The house sound man was Jim Heath (also known as The Reverend Horton Heat). TG also featured art openings by painters/visual artists Ron English, Jeff Robinson, Bill Haveron, Matt Miller, Greg Contestible and Richard Hoefle. The club's owner Russ Hobbs became a born-again Christian and TG booking agent Jeff Liles went on release a number of spoken-word records under the name "cottonmouth, texas".
Another milestone was passed when some guys started having regular parties with DJs at the old Clearview Louver Window building. The multi-room environment with different DJs and bands was very successful. Following an exposé in Spin, the club was evicted from the building, but Clearview moved to another location in Deep Ellum (taking the old building's neon sign). It closed December 31, 2006. Other early- to mid-1980s nightspots were the 500 Café, Empire, Video Bar, and Club Dada.
At this point, with the closure of Dallas' other two punk-rock clubs (DJ's and the Hot Klub), Deep Ellum became the de-facto home of the area's bourgeoning punk scene. Not yet promoted by associations or the city, the area had still acquired considerable "buzz" on the streets, and had become another primary live-music destination, in addition to the traditional Lower Greenville area.
In the late 1980s, due to increasing problems, and pressure from newly-formed local business groups like the Deep Ellum Association, the city of Dallas began upgrading roads, lighting, and parking along Main, Elm, and Commerce streets. Up until this time, the streets had been rather neglected, and there was little lighting, leaving the whole neighborhood dark, and dangerous-seeming. Although purists decried the loss of original atmosphere, the newly-lit streets did lead to lower crime, and it was at this point that the area really began to take off commercially.
[edit] Entertainment district
The 1990s were a high point for Deep Ellum as Dallas' liveliest entertainment district. By 1991, Deep Ellum had 57 bars and nightclubs. There were restaurants, tattoo parlors, other diverse retail shops, and an increasing amount of high-rent residential loft space. Notable businesses of the 1990s included Trees (Closed late 2005), 2826, Club Dada (closed & reopened 2006), The Angry Dog (a restaurant, still in business), Monica's Aca y Alla (a restaurant, still in business),Looker Hair Group (a salon), Galaxy Club (closed early 2007), the Green Room and Tarantino's (both restaurants closed September 2006), and The Red Blood Club (closed & reopened 2007).
One interesting story involves Russell Hobbs, the former owner of Theater Gallery and the Prophet Bar, who, in early 1988, converted to Christianity, closed his clubs, and opened The Door (in May 1998, still in business), a Christian oriented venue which remains popular with young people and many high profile MTV bands and lesser-known touring bands.
Another interesting story is how Monica's Aca y Alla came about. Eduardo Greene divorced his wife and had a highly publicised sex-change and reopened Eduardo's Aca y Alla under her new name. Monica's Aca y Alla helped revive Deep Ellum in the '90s with this trendy hotspot.
Life in Deep Ellum (www.lifeindeepellum.com) opened in January 2007 as a cultural center for the community of Deep Ellum and has breathed new life into the area. The 23,000sf venue features Mokah Coffee Bar; the Live@Mokah concert venue (www.liveatmokah.com) and Mokah Art, one of the area's largest gallery spaces. In addition to its cultural and entertainment offerings, The Gathering is held every Sunday in the Live@Mokah venue space for those seeking spiritual growth within the community's only legally-designated church space. Deep Ellum Kids offers an after-school mentoring program in partnership with the Dallas Independent School District's City Park Elementary.
[edit] Crime recession
At one point, Deep Ellum had become such a popular attraction that the streets often were blocked off to traffic, especially on weekends. It also spawned several events like the Deep Ellum Film Festival and Deep Ellum Arts Festival. Perhaps its best days are past. New events such as the Code (Culture Of Deep Ellum) events and Dallas Rock Meetup Group monthly festival involve multi-venue, multi band performances that hope to maintain Deep Ellum's viability as a live music hotspot.
Today, Deep Ellum struggles with high rents and zoning restrictions on businesses. The perception of a high crime rate has made many people reluctant to visit the area. Things have turned around somewhat, as evidenced by an increase in chain stores and restaurants. In mid-2006, local papers had begun to report the near-demise of the neighborhood, as a large percentage of the long-time live music venues had closed that year, leaving mostly clubs oriented more towards dancing and drinking, and radically altering the "feel" of the area. In 2007, several additional small and medium clubs had closed, although new live-music venues spring up without warning.
It is a time of transition. In 2007, the City Of Dallas has encouraged large scale residential, multi-family dwelling construction in Deep Ellum, in hopes to make it more financially successful. However, there are no substitute areas or neighborhoods for Dallas' indie and blues musicians that offers the access to venues and grass-roots spirit - still found in Deep Ellum.
[edit] The Scene
[edit] Live music venues
Deep Ellum has several live music venues:
- Adair's Saloon - 2624 Commerce Street
- AllGood Cafe - 2394 Main Street
- The Bomb Factory - 2713 Canton Street (Closed)
- The Bone - 2724 Elm Street
- Club Clearview - 2803 Main Street (Closed)
- Curtain Club - 2800 Main Street
- Club Dada - 2720 Elm Street
- Darkside Lounge - 2810 Elm Street
- Deep Ellum Blues - 2612 Main Street (Closed)
- Deep Ellum Live - 2727 Canton Street (Closed)
- The Door - 3202 Elm Street (Moved to Gypsy Tea room's building)
- Double Wide - 3510 Commerce Street
- Galaxy Club - 2820 Main Street / 2808 Commerce Street (Closed)
- Gypsy Tea Room - 2548 Elm Street (Closed)
- Live@Mokah -- 2803 Taylor Street
- The Liquid Lounge - 2800 Main Street
- The Pharmacy - 2820 Elm Street (Closed)
- The Puppet Lounge 2807 Elm Street (Closed)
- The Red Blood Club - 2617 Commerce Street
- Sons of Herman Hall - 3414 Elm Street
- Tomcats - 2914 Commerce Street
[edit] Performing Arts
- Ad-Libs - 2639 Main Street
- The Hub Theater - 2809 Canton Street
[edit] Art Galleries
- 500X Gallery - 500 Exposition Avenue
- AND/OR Gallery - 4221 Bryan Street
- The Public Trust - 2919-C Commerce Street
- Barry Whistler Gallery - 2909-B Canton Street
- Blue Square Art Gallery - 3023 Commerce Street
- Dahlia Woods Gallery - 600 Cantegral Street
- Gallery 2910- 2910 Commerce Street
- Hal Samples - 2814 Main Street
- Kettle Art Gallery - 2714 Elm Street
- Mokah Art -- 2803 Taylor Street
- Mutt Gallery - 3405 Main Street
- Nine Eyes Studio - 130 N. Peak Street
- Pawn Gallery - 2540 Elm Street
- Pidgeon Stone Project Gallery - 3311 Commerce Street
- Revolution Gallery - 3309 Elm Street
- Road Agent Gallery - 2909-A Canton Street
[edit] Restaurants
- Baker's Ribs - 2724 Commerce Street
- Cafe Brazil - 2815 Elm Street
- Deep Sushi - 2624 Elm Street
- eXcuses eXtreme Cafe- 3025 Main Street
- Mokah Coffee Bar -- 2803 Taylor Street
- Pepe & Mito's - 2911 Elm Street
- Twisted Root Burger Co.- 2615 Commerce Street
[edit] Bars
- Elm Street Bar - 2812 Elm Street
[edit] Graffiti
In addition to live music, Deep Ellum is a hot-bed for graffiti. Many of the music venues use graffiti artists to advertise music shows. In the late 1980s, the city allowed a number of local artists to paint walls of the Good Latimer Expressway tunnel (a major entry to the neighborhood). The wide variety of images, largely in a 'graffiti' style, has long been a popular display, leading many to conclude (incorrectly) that the city allows graffiti in parts of Deep Ellum. The tunnel was demolished in spring 2007 to make way for the DART Green Line train due to serve the area beginning in 2009.
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Highways
Interstate 345 (
US 75/
I-45 connection)
[edit] Trains
- DART Green Line (future)
- Deep Ellum Station
[edit] Education
Deep Ellum is served by the Dallas Independent School District.
Residents of Deep Ellum north of Commerce Street are zoned to Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary School, Alex W. Spence Middle School and North Dallas High School.[3] Residents south of Commerce Street are zoned to City Park Elementary School, Billy Earl Dade Middle School, and James Madison High School.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ The Deep Ellum Association - Time Line. Retrieved 4 October 2006.
- ^ a b c d Payne, Darwin (1982). "Chapter VI: The Spirit of Enterprise", Dallas, an illustrated history. Woodland Hills, California: Windsor Publications, 157-185. ISBN 0-89781-034-1.
- ^ Dallas ISD - 2006 School Feeder Patterns - North Dallas High School. (Maps: ES: Zaragoza; MS: Spence; HS: North Dallas.) Retrieved 1 January 2007.
- ^ Dallas ISD - 2006 School Feeder Patterns - James Madison High School. (Maps: ES: City Park; MS: Dade; HS: Madison.) Retrieved 1 January 2007.
[edit] External links
- Pask, Kevin. "Deep Ellum Blues" Southern Spaces, 30 October 2007.
- DEEP (Deep Ellum Enrichment Project)
- The Deep Ellum Association
- Deep Ellum Residents Council
- Complete Deep Ellum Business Listing
- Deep Ellum Film Festival
- Deep Ellum Arts Festival
- History of Deep Ellum compiled by the Dallas Observer
- Deep Ellum Residents Council on Myspace
- Extensive gallery of Good-Latimer Tunnel murals
- Deep Addison
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