Heritage, 2010, Volume 1 Page: 17
31 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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although far from the scenes of battle, Austin
found itself in a dilapidated state at war's end. Busi-
ness and trade had suffered, and, as such, the
economy of the whole city had declined. The war disrupted
plans to bring the railroad into town, so supplies and mail were
still arriving slowly by wagon and boat. City services had come
to a halt, and animals wandered loose in the streets. Even the
property at the governor's mansion was in disrepair, with cattle
wandering on the lawn eating the shrubbery. 2
Into this dismal picture came hundreds of freedmen who
flocked into town looking for safety, shelter, lost relatives, and
paying jobs. Leaving nearby plantations and other towns in
Texas where they had been enslaved, freedmen traveled the
dangerous roads into Austin and set up temporary domiciles
wherever they could find them. Initially, these homes were in
empty barns, outbuildings, and deserted houses, but those
structures were hard to find. No doubt, many of the new ar-
rivals received some help from the freedmen who had been
residing in Austin before the war. Living conditions were very
crowded, and many white Austinites resented the presence of
the freedmen, considering them no better than vagrants. Aus-
tin's mayor called a special meeting of the City Council on
June 27, 1865, in order to take steps toward forming a police
force to deal with the freedmen and other unemployed per-
sons on the streets. 3
Because of a lack of housing and a likely wish to live apart
from resentful whites, freedmen began to establish small
settlements in and around Austin. Between 1866 and 1894,
these former slaves formed numerous small urban communi-
ties, each of which grew to include a church and/or school. At
this time, the boundaries of Austin were the Colorado River
on the south, Waller Creek on the east, and Shoal Creek on
the west. In the 30 years after the Civil War, Austin's freed-
men established at least eight of their own residen-
tial neighborhoods on the east and west sides of the
city and closer to the downtown, along the banks of
its two creeks. 4
The first of Austin's freedmen communities was
Pleasant Hill, settled around 1865. Situated on a
high hill east of Waller Creek, between what is
now East 7th and East 1 th Streets, Pleasant
Hill commanded an impressive view of Austin,
all the way down to the Colorado River and be-
yond. Residents of Pleasant Hill travelled into
Austin for their jobs and to conduct business,
or they worked as sharecroppers in the nearby
countryside. Other freedmen neighborhoods
that were also formed east of Waller Creek
included Masontown (1867), Robertson Hill
(1869), and Gregorytown (1894), where Aus- Barton Sprin
tin's historic black institution of higher educa- Michelle M. Mtion, Huston-Tillotson University is still located. 5
Across town, two freedmen communities grew on the west
side of Austin. In 1869, a freedman named James Wheat pur-
chased land at the site of the former 40-acre Hill Plantation.
The community named for him, Wheatville, eventually be-
came the home of one of Austin's most important freedmen
leaders, Reverend Jacob Fontaine. He established many of
Austin's black churches, published a newspaper, and operated
a general store in Wheatville. Many other freedmen who lived
in the community worked at the nearby University of Texas
and in boarding houses just off campus. 6
In 1871, on the edge of the former Pease Plantation, freed-
man Charles Clark purchased a tract of land and built a house,
formally establishing Clarksville as Austin's second freedmen
neighborhood on the west side of town. It is likely that a few
of Clark's neighbors were some of Governor Elisha M. Pease's
ten freed slaves, who were perhaps already living in the area.
For many years, Clarksville was remote and rural in nature, al-
though some of its residents worked as servants at the Confed-
erate Veterans Home located close by. Clarksville was unique
among Austin's urban freedmen communities because the resi-
dents who lived there maintained a friendly connection to the
white Pease family, who lived in the nearby plantation house
for many years after the war. 7
In addition to communities established by freedmen on the
outer edges of Austin, there were two inner-city communities
located near or on the banks of Waller Creek and Shoal Creek.
By 1876, both the Red River Street community and the West Side
community had been established. Considered undesirable by
whites because of the likelihood of
flooding, the areas near the two
creeks became home to many
of Austin's freedmen.l r
gs was just one of Austin's freedmen communities after the Civil War. All photographs are by
ears.HERITAGEN Volume 1 2010
*EA BY 186 AN SOEO ,H
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, 2010, Volume 1, periodical, 2010; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth254216/m1/17/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.