Lisbon, a farming community southwest of Oak Cliff, was founded in the 1840s by a pioneer from Arkansas, James K. Sloan. Apparently, the name Lisbon was the nickname of a pioneer's daughter, Elizabeth Williamson, who later became a local hotel owner.
The city's cemetery was established in 1871, and a post office was established in the 1880's. In its early days, it was the first stop of a stagecoach heading out of Dallas to some of Texas' central cities. Lisbon operated as an incorporated town. The intersection of Lancaster and Ann Arbor roads was the town's center of commerce.
In 1929, the community of about 3,000 was annexed by Dallas. Oak Cliff was annexed in 1903. A 240-bed hospital for veterans opened in 1940 on the southwest corner of Lancaster Road and Ann Arbor roads. It's 1955 nine-story brick addition mushroomed into what today is the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which many of the current Lisbon School's volunteers are employed. |
