freedman's town

photo: jetheriot

This old house in Houston, surrounded by gleaming townhomes and restaurants, is one of the few buildings that remain of the neighborhood originally known as Freedman's Town.

After the Civil War, newly freed slaves established Freedman's Town on the edge of the city. It later became known as the Fourth Ward, and today is known simply as Midtown.

Little remains of Freedman's Town. It's all been swallowed up by the passage of time. The African-American Library is a beautifully renovated school that serves as an archive and museum of the area's history, but as for the original buildings, they're almost all gone. There are ten crumbling row houses built in the early twentieth century that are set to be demolished any day now. And this old shack is still hanging on. Plans are to convert it into a barbershop museum. I wish it well. It would be a shame to see it disappear.