The Dallas Journal, Volume 53, 2007 Page: 14
162 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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El Tivoli Place History
.. xOn this aerial view of the area in the 1930's you can see a
building on a short curved street right near where San Jose
is located today. This is likely where the El Tivoli Night
Club was located. The straight street at the bottom is West
. Davis Street. About three quarters of an inch, from left to
. right, on West Davis Street is a road, (what is now
Reverchon Drive) and about one fourth inch up at the
curve of the street is a building. The view is not plain
enough to tell what type of building it is but could be either
the club house or the Reverchon cottage. There is what
looks like a building just left of that building.
In February 1930 the Groves-Barnes Lumber Company
iN
Filed suit asking that a receiver be appointed to operate the
El i ivohli Club, according to an article in the Dallas Morning News dated 15 Feb 1930. On 25 June 1930
the Cliff-Dale Club House was destroyed by fire about 9 p.m. According to the newspaper report, it was
such a big blaze that "hundreds of motorists followed the fire equipment to the scene of the blaze. They
blocked the road leading to the clubhouse and nightclub. The fire was out of control by the time the
firemen could reach the fire. The closest water main was four blocks away. Loss was estimated at
$2500 by the manager of the night club." The club house sat behind the El Tivoli Night Club. By
December of 1930 the club house was rebuilt and open for business.
The following directions to the golf course appear in the WPA Dallas Guide & History: "El Tivoli Golf
Course - W Davis between Kessler Blvd. & Cliffdale Ave, W on Davis, rt to Club, 18 holes, 50 cents
week days, 75 cents Sat. Sun. & Holidays." [SOURCE: Writers' Program of the Work Projects
Administration in the City of Dallas, WPA Dallas Guide & History, (Dallas and Denton: Dallas Public
Library and University of North Texas Press, 1992) p.10.]
By October, 1930, the El Tivoli was being touted as the only supper club in the city of Oak Cliff, and
Stevens Park Golf Club as one of the finest in the city, along with Cliff-Dale and Cedar Crest golf
courses.
In deed #1759 on 16 November 1931, St. Paul's Hospital in consideration of one dollar ($1.00)
conveyed to the State of Texas a parcel of land in the A. McCracken Survey, containing 2.14 acres,
more or less, to be used for right of way purposes for a public highway. The area included a line on the
east side of Cliffdale Street south to the middle of State Highway 1 (Fort Worth Pike), east 1,858 feet to
the east line of St. Paul Sanitarium boundary and north 50 feet thence west to Cliffdale running parallel
to the center line of State Highway 1 (Davis Street). All improvements on the roadway were to be at the
expense of Dallas County. Filed for record 9 July 1932.
By 1931, the Cliff-Dale Country Club had changed its name to El Tivoli Country Club. The Dallas City
Directories list both the Cliff Dale Country Club and the El Tivoli Night Club, from 1930 through 1933,
at the same address, 2715 West Davis. Before the area was acquired by El Tivoli Inc. and until the
houses were built on the property, 2715 West Davis was the only street address for the property. The
mailing address was Rte 8 Box 653. The mailing address for the Reverchon family was Rose Cottage,
Sta A, Rte 8. The Club and the area surrounding it were still rural, not yet having been annexed by the
City of Dallas. El Tivoli was an island unto itself.14 Dallas Journal 2007
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Dallas Genealogical Society. The Dallas Journal, Volume 53, 2007, periodical, October 2007; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth186866/m1/18/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Genealogical Society.