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Feb. 13, 2005, 1:44AM

A community in transition

Freedmen's Town, an area settled by emancipated slaves, is trying to reconcile progress with preserving its history

By LORI RODRIGUEZ

Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

On Sundays in what was once called Freedmen's Town, blacks across Houston stream into churches that have held sway since the Civil War.

Ladies wear hats. Worshippers belt out hymns. Preachers tend flocks that have dwindled in size if not spirit. One parish is down to eight congregants.

Emancipated slaves settled this area, now prime real estate west of downtown, and built a thriving, self-contained community. But its face has changed.

Today, the neighborhood is no longer all black. But even with a steady influx of middle-class white residents, neither will it totally gentrify.

After decades of passionate political debate, a new Fourth Ward identity is emerging. Some think the change is for the good. Others feel a loss.

Everyone knows it's inevitable.

"None of us is trying to erase history," says freelance writer Mike Riccetti, one of several hundred residents who have been drawn by the proximity of downtown to the stylish Urban Lofts development off east Andrews and the Gulf Freeway feeder.

"But by the time we moved in, the neighborhood hadn't been a vibrant community for a long time," Riccetti says. "Much of it had dwindled away, and what remained were the poorest of the poor.

"If we've pushed anyone out, it's been some of the drug dealers and other criminals."

Early history

In the 1950s, the Gulf Freeway split the neighborhood bound today by Heiner, Buffalo Bayou, Waugh and West Gray. Desegregation gave blacks the chance to live elsewhere. Absentee landlords let historical row houses crumble. Three city-sanctioned plans for development imploded under the pressure of racial politics.

City officials ultimately sold portions of land on the neighborhood's east side to pay for affordable and historically conforming housing on the west side. The move ensured a mixed-income community and opened the door to the urban professionals moving in.

When a fire three weeks ago gutted the historical but shuttered Bethel Baptist Church at Andrews and Crosby, the shifting neighborhood was thrust into the spotlight. Houston police have since charged a homeless man with arson in connection with the blaze.

Bethel was founded in 1896 by the Rev. Jack Yates, one of Houston's early leaders. After the structure steadily deteriorated, the tiny congregation led by the Rev. Robert O. Robertson Jr. moved to Lyons in the Fifth Ward. That was eight years ago, and Bethel has been vacant since.

The fire changed that. When a bulldozer was pulled up to the smoldering church, black leaders descended on the site and halted its destruction. Some voiced suspicions, as-yet unfounded, of a race-related arson. Some suggested major developers in the area were behind the fire. Longtime Freedmen's Town Association leader Gladys House portrayed town-home residents as callous.

Gentrification

Despite the furor, the mix of market forces and good intentions changing the face of the historical area is creating the community that city officials wanted: a diverse neighborhood with a growing tax base.

Andrews, the artery that slices east-west through the heart of the neighborhood, begins at Urban Lofts, runs through a church-sponsored low-income project and ends at the subsidized housing operated by the Houston Housing Authority.

Local demographics expert Karl Eschbach says the Fourth Ward, with a measurable increase in young, white and middle-class residents, provides the best example of Houston gentrification during the past decade. But evidence of the area's history remains.

Mostly black residents still inhabit the weathered, shotgun row houses; a few within the federally designated historical district are slated for renovation. Other minority residents live in a 100-unit, subsidized complex on the west side of the neighborhood and in the Historic Oaks of Allen Parkway, a 500-unit development that's also subsidized.

A handful of other, much smaller low-income projects built by church-sponsored, nonprofit Community Development Corporations dot the neighborhood.

Sense of history

Two years ago, Brenda McClure, a case manager for the chronically mentally ill, moved into one of them.

"Everyone's trying to get into nice homes close to downtown. I'm no different from the folks that have bought the nicer town houses. When the opportunity to move here came up, I took it just like they took it," McClure says.

"But people are trying to preserve history as much as they possibly can," she says. "All of us want that. And we look out for each other out here. We get along."

Some of McClure's neighbors include pilots, bankers, dental hygienists, sales representatives and corporate workers.

They were drawn by downtown chic and the palpable sense of history; one of the first landmarks Urban Lofts resident Alison Farley shows visitors is the brick streets laid by freed slaves.

For many newcomers, their $190,000 town homes were carefully considered, first-home decisions. For all of them, it was a risk. They know they bought a neighborhood package that for years will lack amenities many residents consider key: green spaces, retail outlets and sound infrastructure.

'New friends'

Homeless people are commonplace. Urban Lofts residents know the most familiar by name and give them food, clothing and conversation. One of them is Willie Edmon, who accepts the new residents with the grace of someone who has watched his lifelong neighborhood alter around him.

"I'm not leaving the neighborhood just because they're building it up. I've made new friends. Sometimes they sit and talk. We have a beer sometimes, but most of them like soda and bottled water."

Residents find other neighborhood fixtures harder to accept, such as open drug trafficking. A week ago Friday, nearly a dozen police cars converged at the intersection of Andrews and Wilson in the center of the neighborhood. The drug bust yielded the man charged in the Bethel fire.

"It's not about the haves and the have-nots. It's about what's legal and what is not and what kind of element you want next door," says Urban Lofts resident Brian Crawford.

Urban Lofts residents have been attending meetings convened by Robertson and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston. The last gathering was in her downtown office and drew several dozen participants.

Last Christmas, Frost Bank employee Liora C. Torres asked a resident in one of the older homes in her neighborhood what gift would make a difference in her life. Louise Horton, whom town-home residents frequently supplied with ice, said she didn't have a refrigerator.

Torres passed the hat among residents. A neighbor donated a barely used side-by-side refrigerator, and about a dozen people loaded it on a cart and pushed it down the street to Horton's home. They also added a $150 Randalls gift certificate.

Horton, 49, is a lifelong Fourth Ward resident. She raised her three children there; her only son died in a drive-by shooting seven years ago at 19. Her mother, who is 77, moved into the Historic Oaks development when it was built.

Most afternoons, Horton looks after her six grandchildren while their parents work. Her home badly needs repairs, but her entry hallway is brightened by gaily colored, pinned-up art from her grandchildren, 3 to 15.

"It was a blessing," says Horton of her Christmas gift. Asked about the town-home development across the street, she dispassionately observes that it's coming along.

"It don't bother me, and I don't bother it," she says. "Whatever comes, just comes."

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  • 5 months later...
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I know this article is six months old, but I've only just read it. It's one of the best things I've read about Houston in a long time. Even with the junkies and who-knows-what it makes me wish I lived in that neighborhood.

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Guest danax

For those who might not know, 4th Ward was originally a freed slave settlement, just west of Downtown, which rose and fell and finally hit bottom and gave way to its current slash and burn rebirth.

When you look at the history, location and rapid conversion from Freedman's Town to Townhouse Town, this is definitely one of our most unique nabes and the present time is one of its most unique periods. It's a garrish scene, with what's happening and what happened both on naked display. Bamboo, bananas and Beemers border 150 year old brick paved streets. I do like the way the 2 and 3 story density combines with the alley-like streets to create Euro style old world street scenes.

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the pervasive telephone/electrical wires are horrid.

After moving back to Houston that is one of the first things you notice. How damned ugly those telephone and utility poles are. Especially in a dense urban area, couldn't they have tried to bury some of them?

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damn shame how they ran folks off for greed....but this shows you the value of ownership...

I remember when people looked down on the Fonde Rec Center for years and let up damn near die before it came back in 1991....now, you barely can find it

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After moving back to Houston that is one of the first things you notice. How damned ugly those telephone and utility poles are. Especially in a dense urban area, couldn't they have tried to bury some of them?

when the developer bought each block, they could have been responsible for changing the configuration (by putting in underground service) but it would have cost them money and hence no change. it's all about making the most money possible.

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Guest danax
when the developer bought each block, they could have been responsible for changing the configuration (by putting in underground service) but it would have cost them money and hence no change. it's all about making the most money possible.

It does look like they buried them around the Camden project and the Edge. I don't even see street lights, but I think they're yet to be installed.

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i hope the inside isn't as plain at the outside. those are horrible.

They are pretty decent inside. Pretty much the same as every other three story town home in town though. Not bad, not great.

The guy that had those three townhomes built also built the retirement home down the street (in one of the pics) and the row houses across the street from it.

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After moving back to Houston that is one of the first things you notice. How damned ugly those telephone and utility poles are. Especially in a dense urban area, couldn't they have tried to bury some of them?

I believe that once they get approval to redo the 2 brick streets they will also redo the remaining streets in the area and possibly bury everything.

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This was in the Chronicle the other day.

Houston wants to help save Fourth Ward homes

By DAVID ELLISON

Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

While several people scrambled for a month to find 83-year-old Pearl Franklin a place to live, others were scurrying to make sure the 77-year-old house she lives in remains intact in historic Fourth Ward.

Franklin, who is the only resident remaining in the 10 shotgun-style houses in the 1500 block of Victor, said Thursday that she plans to move soon to a nearby apartment.

In April, the owners of the houses asked her and other residents to move because the city has cited some of the homes for violations such as electrical problems and not maintaining clean conditions.

Now that it appears Franklin will be moved by Sunday, the focus shifts to what will happen to the houses. Community leaders' initial fear was that someone would buy the property and tear down the structures.

Thuong Tran, whose family owns the Victor houses, said she wants to lease the houses and the property to a nonprofit group that will repair the homes.

"I won't have to sell the houses," she said. "I won't have to move the houses."

The city wants to help the community preserve them, said Jill Jewett, Mayor Bill White's assistant for cultural affairs.

She said the city will seek community input on whether to maintain the structures for affordable housing, community gathering space or adjunct programming for the Gregory School, a nearby historical building that's being converted into a black museum and community center.

For years, community leaders have been at odds with city officials and developers over

Link

As was this, about restoring the 4th Ward streets.

Will city bring ruin to roads?

Residents are divided over a plan to remove, replace bricks paving two Fourth Ward streets

By DAVID ELLISON

Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

The buzz is about the city's controversial plan to repair Andrews and Wilson streets, both of which are covered with bricks made and installed by former slaves who settled this area west of downtown in the 1800s.

The proposal to remove the bricks, repair the utilities underneath them and replace the brick has divided this community. The split is primarily between original residents who want the bricks untouched and newer residents who want the streets and infrastructure repaired. For longtime residents, the bricks are symbolic of the neighborhood's deep history, evidence of which has been disappearing over the last decade.

After more than a decade of planning, the city's proposal to repair the two brick streets is expected to go before the City Council in June. Last week, a city engineer outlined the repair plans at a community meeting attended by about 100 people.

On a recent visit to the historic community, people walking or cycling at Andrews and Wilson or residents nearby offered opinions on both sides of the issue.

Few people know more about the brick streets than Philip Semedo, 57, who lives with his 89-year-old mother, Hazel B. Semedo, on Wilson just south of Andrews.

Walking in the middle of the intersection last week, the younger Semedo said he's opposed to any plan to remove the bricks. He said he and his mother, both raised in Fourth Ward, have been walking on the brick streets collectively for more than a century.

"I think the history should be preserved," he said. "The bricks were laid by freed slaves. It's part of Houston's history."

And the link...

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another article on the brick streets:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4861337.html

Public Works and Engineering officials have pledged that once the water and sewer lines are rebuilt, the original bricks will be returned to their positions. That hasn't satisfied some preservationists, who argue that once the bricks are moved, they lose their historical significance. They would like to see the city realign the utility lines under sidewalk easements and leave the bricked streets undisturbed, an option that city engineers say is not feasible.

Feeding opposition to the city plan is the fact that promises by City Hall to work to preserve Fourth Ward have been repeatedly disregarded. Much-ballyhooed plans to build affordable housing gave way to far pricier construction and gentrification.

As Andrews Street resident Deborah Seitzer told the Chronicle's David Ellison, "There's a lack of trust for the city in whether or not they will actually do what they say they are going to do."

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I believe that once they get approval to redo the 2 brick streets they will also redo the remaining streets in the area and possibly bury everything.

i know the city said they were going to do the plumbing but they aren't responsible for power lines.

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These are nice photos and here's the big however...

The pics only emphasize the horrible planning or lack thereof of this terrible site. There are numerous stories of locals who are upset about the narrowness and cramped feel to this place. More importantly how fire trucks and ambulances can barely squeez in, if at all. There is also another Haif topic on Red Bricks in this nabe and the origins of who placed them there. Hardly any of these new projects even blend in harmony its like it was every man for himself, do as you please, anything goes. Result is like tossing black tar on a beautiful Christmas tree. A true exercise in plain poor taste.

These monstrosities resemble long tall out houses in the country ie portable toilets. What about trees and grass? Urban nightmare. Worse of all the crime lurks within arms reach. Only a truly naive and young, non-Houstonian could find this a decent place to live. Midtown nearby is by far the place to be. Sorry to be so blunt, I'm not mad jusy being honest and my thoughts are shared by many not on this forum but around Houston (and probably the USA). Ok I have my helmet on, bring on them rocks?! :ph34r:B)

Peace on earth good will towards.....

signed Aluminum and Tin outhouse city

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I 100% agree with UrbanEndeavor's response on the Chron's website. These properties could be put to much better use than trying to "save" 10 dilapidated houses. The historic value of this area was gone a long time ago, and the City as a whole benefits more from redevelopment than from attempted restoration.

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Guest danax
I 100% agree with UrbanEndeavor's response on the Chron's website. These properties could be put to much better use than trying to "save" 10 dilapidated houses. The historic value of this area was gone a long time ago, and the City as a whole benefits more from redevelopment than from attempted restoration.

The City feels guilty for the "shock and awe" redevelopment over there, even though, from all indications, and someone from Freedman's Town might disagree, the once intact community had degenerated to where it was run by corner crack dealers and so the "loss" had really happened decades before, as you mentioned. Saving 10 row houses would then appear to be simply throwing a bone to the African American community and also would create museum style exhibits of bygone days for posterity.

I think shifting the utilities (including power lines) to the under-sidewalk area, so as to save the remaining bricks, would be a good thing. But bending over backwards to accomodate historic and aesthetic concerns is so strange to Houston I doubt that will happen. Actually, I doubt that it would be possible to replace sewer line using the sidewalk area, given that the pipes are huge (anyone been down Lower Kirby lately?). Now they could mark each brick by hand and re-lay them on a better base......

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I 100% agree with UrbanEndeavor's response on the Chron's website. These properties could be put to much better use than trying to "save" 10 dilapidated houses. The historic value of this area was gone a long time ago, and the City as a whole benefits more from redevelopment than from attempted restoration.

what makes the heights/6th ward restorations work is that the owners of the properties wanted them saved, not a renter. a non-property owner can't really make such demands.

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The pics only emphasize the horrible planning or lack thereof of this terrible site. There are numerous stories of locals who are upset about the narrowness and cramped feel to this place. More importantly how fire trucks and ambulances can barely squeez in

Only a truly naive and young, non-Houstonian could find this a decent place to live. Midtown nearby is by far the place to be.

signed Aluminum and Tin outhouse city

Any sources on those numerous stories?

After all, fire trucks and ambulances have managed to squeeze in on those streets for the past hundred years or so. If anything, I think that the narrow streets are the one thing that Fourth Ward has going for it, since they at least give it a well-scaled neighborhood feel. In fact, I think the wide streets with fast traffic will keep the western part of Midtown from ever developing as a sustainable residential neighborhood, except for mega-apartment complexes. Those same jumbo complexes will also eventually hurt the quality of both Fourth Ward and Midtown. They are very cheaply made, and once they start getting run down and unfashionable Midtown and Fourth Ward could well become scary neighborhoods again.

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Any sources on those numerous stories?

After all, fire trucks and ambulances have managed to squeeze in on those streets for the past hundred years or so. If anything, I think that the narrow streets are the one thing that Fourth Ward has going for it, since they at least give it a well-scaled neighborhood feel. In fact, I think the wide streets with fast traffic will keep the western part of Midtown from ever developing as a sustainable residential neighborhood, except for mega-apartment complexes. Those same jumbo complexes will also eventually hurt the quality of both Fourth Ward and Midtown. They are very cheaply made, and once they start getting run down and unfashionable Midtown and Fourth Ward could well become scary neighborhoods again.

the emergency vehicle issue has been around for quite a while but with the building boom, something had to be done. this is one reason many if not all the streets are now one way with one side street parking to hopefully ensure an emergency vehicle can be accomodated.

as for your jumbo complex theory, i think it's a good one. particularly the point about being cheaply made.

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Not just cheapo construction, but narrow halls, spotty lighting, and way too many units. When they go bad they will go bad big time. Think Gulfton squared.

It's too bad that apartment developers have given up on smaller complexes that could integrate better into single-family residential neighborhoods.

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what makes the heights/6th ward restorations work is that the owners of the properties wanted them saved, not a renter. a non-property owner can't really make such demands.

The idea of one house per lot furthers urban sprawl which will hurt any City and its residents in the long run, not to mention our dependence on oil. This is no more apparent than in recent times.

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Not just cheapo construction, but narrow halls, spotty lighting, and way too many units. When they go bad they will go bad big time. Think Gulfton squared.

concur but the rebuttal from the midtown mgmt board will be "Houston has several places to live that are close in, but Midtown is the only place that is-in!" LOL.

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