Freedmen's Town Community

[gwilson]

Best. Freedman's Town. Picture. Evar.

That person sits there every day and will gladly chat you up if you want to stop by. That is right across the street from the pastel townhouses and a block away from Valentine.

[Guest danax]

I found this in my old hard drive from '98 and it lays some background to the area's current state. Click a couple of times on the image to get the enlargement icon to pop up.

[sargento03]

I live in the area....just a few thoughts/comments.

1. I agree on the previous comment that some of the development has been by black-owned organizations. And it is true that the area has seen a mix of expensive townhomes with more affordable housing. If I'm not mistaken, as of this year, the organization(s) doing the more affordable housing (and I forget the names), have run out of land...so there will be no more affordable housing. However, even the previous residents can't afford the affordable housing.

2. The area does feel cramped already, and there is still lots of vacant land. You can fit my house 32 times in one block, and if you've seen the area you know how small these blocks are. However, i don't mind the narrow streets. Traffic is almost non-existent. It seems like everytime I leave my house I'm the only one on the road. It also give it a more "neighborhood" feel. I have some friends down the street from me, and even though they are about 5 blocks away, its a really short walk.

3. Too bad they are not replacing the bricks. Even though the bricks do have historical meaning...those two streets are very rough, lop-sided, and with huge potholes. I try to avoid them at all cost.

4. Those 10 delapidated houses need to go. I'm all for preservation, but things change, places change. I don't expect my house to be here forever.

[jc281]

came across some pretty cool townhomes in this area. reasonable prices (uh oh) and some amazing views of downtown. proximity to dt/md/galleria is great, design/builder check out, the real concern is the stigma and future of the neighborhood. im really not familar at all with the area or the changes its going through. all i know is that growing up in houston, anything WARD means watch out. so tell me...is that still the case?

[jc281]

k so this reply looks a little out of place now ^^ it was its own thread but got moved. will do some reading in this thread now

[Mark F. Barnes]

More from the Forth

Edited December 31, 2007 by Mark F. Barnes

[N Judah]

Take out those bricks - to put in the power lines or whatever - but then brick-ify the whole neighborhood. That should be an acceptable compromise, no?

If anything it's a good excuse to do something that can only help the neighborhood as a whole. I think a ton of people would love to live in houses/apartments that line brick-paved streets. And now they finally have a legitimately authentic reason to pave the streets with bricks, or something similar to bricks.

Edited January 1, 2008 by N Judah

[musicman]

Take out those bricks - to put in the power lines or whatever - but then brick-ify the whole neighborhood. That should be an acceptable compromise, no?

not if you're the city. they won't provide maintainance.

[N Judah]

not if you're the city. they won't provide maintainance.

For the bricks? Maybe there's some 4th Ward TIRZ that can be set up to do the job, in that case. Beats the heck out of shiny streetlights/street signs.

[musicman]

For the bricks? Maybe there's some 4th Ward TIRZ that can be set up to do the job, in that case. Beats the heck out of shiny streetlights/street signs.

that's what started the whole mess. the city went in and did some work and replaced some bricks with blacktop cause they supposedly don't provide maintainance.

[sevfiv]

Interesting article on Rice archaeology students recovering artifacts in Freedmen's Town:

These opportunities to study the past are disappearing fast. Near the museum at 1314 Andrews and in and around Freedmen's Town, only a few dozen of the old buildings still stand. More prevalent are ritzy loft apartments and condos, and rows of affordable and low-income homes.

For the most part, the students know nothing about the political battles that have swirled around the community over the years or the fierce fights that have pitted residents and preservationists against the city and developers. Suffice it to say, the old is losing ground to the new.

The four students working the pit, a square two meters by two meters, are digging in short, careful strokes. The goal, says Rice anthropology professor Susan McIntosh, is to dig about 55 centimeters down, to the flood plain and the place devoid of artifacts.

Catherine Roberts, one of the founders of the Yates museum, whizzes by with guests. In the late 1860s, she is explaining, the chunk of land now bound by West Dallas, West Gray, Taft and downtown was one of the few places in Houston freed slaves could buy land and build homes.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5636945.html

[dbigtex56]

Good article.

Many (most?) people don't realize that Freedman's Town (4th Ward) was like a city unto itself during the years of segragation in Houston.

In the early 80's I used to walk down Andrews Street to my corporate job downtown every morning. My coworkers told me I was nuts to walk through that neighborhood alone, but no one ever gave me a hard time. In fact, the elderly people sitting on their porches would usually give me a friendly greeting as I walked by.

This was before crack arrived and obliterated what little remained of Freedman's Town's former culture.

[editor]

I was lucky enough to live next to Freedmen's Town (Freedmenstown?) before it was bulldozed and became Townhouse Central. No, it wasn't a great place. It was ugly and dirty and run down and frankly a little scary, even to someone my size. But I'm a big believer in preserving history, and a lot of early Houston history was lost in that place.

I recently found out about a project to preserve and spread a little bit of Freedmen's Town's legacy: Freedman Plantlets

They're cuttings taken from one of the last remaining plants in Freedmen's Town before it was scraped clean. People are signing up for pieces which they plant in their yards and help cultivate a little history.

I don't know how much they cost, but I know sevfiv has one. Maybe she'll fill in the details.

[cosmic08]

Thanks for posting this! I hope the brick-paved streets of Freedmen's Town survive.

[ricco67]

The area is a joke to be honest.

It might refer to people that were released from prison. It's not to say all people that live there, but there needs to be something to unify the community aside from the dealers that hang out there at night.

Put up a police substation there to scare them away, I say.

[kylejack]

We've only got a little while before gentrification finally stamps it out, so enjoy it while it lasts. This is a neighborhood with a long history of being pissed on by authorities. Property was seized with eminent domain (the black families who lived here took it all the way to the Supreme Court and lost) and bulldozed to build housing for returning war veterans. The authorities claimed that they moved 928 bodies in a cemetery to a white cemetery across town, but its not clear if that's true. The federal government allocated ten million to rehab Allen Parkway Village, but local government ran off with some of the money and spent it on other stuff. Later when utility workers found bodies they just plowed right through the bodies with no credible attempt at preservation.

[sevfiv]

I only have a few plantlets and I am pretty sure I can get more from the site owner. If not, the ones I have will surely spawn soon...

[Cemeterywolf]

I was lucky enough to live next to Freedmen's Town (Freedmenstown?) before it was bulldozed and became Townhouse Central. No, it wasn't a great place. It was ugly and dirty and run down and frankly a little scary, even to someone my size. But I'm a big believer in preserving history, and a lot of early Houston history was lost in that place.

I recently found out about a project to preserve and spread a little bit of Freedmen's Town's legacy: Freedman Plantlets

They're cuttings taken from one of the last remaining plants in Freedmen's Town before it was scraped clean. People are signing up for pieces which they plant in their yards and help cultivate a little history.

I don't know how much they cost, but I know sevfiv has one. Maybe she'll fill in the details.

I received a small box of Freedman Plantlets in the mail last week. Already planted and they grow fast. The cost is FREE!!!!!! FREE POSTAGE. Really nice lady.!!!!!!!!

[Texmex1]

I received a small box of Freedman Plantlets in the mail last week. Already planted and they grow fast. The cost is FREE!!!!!! FREE POSTAGE. Really nice lady.!!!!!!!!

Just got mine yesterday!

[Chi-Char-Hou-Dal]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Freedmen-s-Town-activists-stand-their-ground-over-5573974.php

 

 

[kbates2]

I walk these streets every day and frankly I don't think they are fully salvageable in their current state. They are in an extreme state of disrepair and will have to be moved to fix the surface. Maybe they could make similar bricks, replace them in the original patterns and fill in the holes.

[HoustonMidtown]

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Freedmen-s-Town-activists-stand-their-ground-over-5573974.php

 

Here's a link that allowed me to see the whole article:

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Freedmen-s-Town-activists-stand-their-ground-over-5573974.php?cmpid=twitter-premium&t=c976099367

[IronTiger]

Didn't they try to do this in 2006? I remember reading that...and posting a thread on it.

EDIT: Here we go.

Edited June 24, 2014 by IronTiger

[Purdueenginerd]

I like the brick streets but man... the roads are in bad shape. 

[NenaE]

"North of the Montrose neighborhoods lies the community now called Fourth Ward, the oldest black neighborhood in Houston. Fourth Ward is the antithesis of the popular image of Houston. It embodies everything the the city is supposed to lack: tradition, history, a stable, rooted community culture. Fourth Ward, because it is black and poor, has endured official neglect for most of its history, yet it is the most moving place in the city. It is, as the novelist Olive Hershey observed, the soul of Houston."  

 

Stephen Fox, AIA - Houston Architectual Guide, 2nd edition

 

 

 

Surely, a compromise can be reached. The area has already lost so much of it's history. Some of the remaining historical sites are on intersections. At least in these areas, the brick streets should be left undisturbed. 500 historically designated structures reduced to 35, shameful statistics. I plead, please save some of each ward's distinguishing characteristics. 

 

How did the 6th Ward's historical district address the utility updates, and not disturb the brick streets?

[Avossos]

How did the 6th Ward's historical district address the utility updates, and not disturb the brick streets?

 

We only have one brick street remaining, and it is a mess as well. The plan is to completely redo it, while trying to use as much of the histric material (bricks) as possible.

[Luminare]

hmm I also posted a thread about his maybe a few weeks ago. Anyway I already stated my opinion on this and that is that something has to be done about infrastructure. I'm sure the people that built these treats would be disgusted that what they built is in such poor shape. Both the community and the city should have kept better car of these areas and instead let it go into the crapper which is why so many historical buildings ended up being knocked down because they were beyond saving and an endangerment to those around them :/.

[H-Town Man]

"North of the Montrose neighborhoods lies the community now called Fourth Ward, the oldest black neighborhood in Houston. Fourth Ward is the antithesis of the popular image of Houston. It embodies everything the the city is supposed to lack: tradition, history, a stable, rooted community culture. Fourth Ward, because it is black and poor, has endured official neglect for most of its history, yet it is the most moving place in the city. It is, as the novelist Olive Hershey observed, the soul of Houston."

Stephen Fox, AIA - Houston Architectual Guide, 2nd edition

The last part is a little over the top. It's not the soul of Houston. The title of "soul" should go to a place that has some connection to everybody like downtown, not a gift offering to assuage historical guilt.

The third sentence was right on, however.

[NenaE]

809 Robin St. - c.1870's  - example of the Gulf Coast cottage (very small house, similar to the shotgun style, has side-facing gables) 

 

1318 Andrews St. - c.1870's - oldest datable building in Fourth Ward. 

[NenaE]

The last part is a little over the top. It's not the soul of Houston. The title of "soul" should go to a place that has some connection to everybody like downtown, not a gift offering to assuage historical guilt.

The third sentence was right on, however.

 

There are obviously many definitions of the soul of Houston. I was furnishing one interpretation of what some Houstonians deem worthy. I was hoping to point out what we stand to lose (the two 1870's buildings are not in their original locations, one is a townhouse, the other an empty lot). The same argument can be made for each immediate area surrounding Downtown proper. Some areas seemed to flow from it, until the freeways cut them up. Some have always had natural and man-made borders that have isolated them. My fear is that the third sentence made not be accurate, in the near future. 

 

The Fourth Ward - (or whatever name it's called now) - I've read that some of the area was gifted, but not all of it. Naturally, integration brought changes. But landlords have had something to do with it, as well. 

 

 

"Its residents are caught in speculation and the absentee property owners are having buildings condemned rather than initiating improvements, waiting for the time when the land can be sold for big building"... Peter C.Papademetriou - Houston, an architectural guide (1972)

 

It is my hope that the small cottage got moved not dozed and the red bricks stay. Is it not possible to run the utilities under the sidewalks on these two streets? I don't have a clue how it works. I just know that I have come to appreciate the historical  blue-collar workers tiny dwelling more than the elite Houston mansion. 

 

The soul of Houston to me, personally, lies in the bayou and land of Harrisburg, Texas, or maybe the music of the Eldorado Ballroom. 

Edited June 28, 2014 by NenaE