Dallas, TX

Freedman’s Cemetery
DESCRIPTION: Interred remains of over 7,000 African Americans rest here from the days of the original Freedman’s Town in a small section of North Dallas; over the years the boundaries of Freedman’s Town have been the victim of “metropolitan progress” for Dallas, such as freeway construction; happily, better times are ahead; Dallas City Council designated the cemetery a historic landmark and plans are underway to construct a $1 million memorial in a triangular site

ADDRESS: flanking the west side of North Central Expressway, between Lemmon Ave and Hall Street  MAP

 

Deep Ellum
DESCRIPTION: Considered the most historic of Black districts in Dallas from the early 20th century onwards;  known for great Blues music

ADDRESS: roughly bounded by Elm Street, Trunk Ave, Commerce Street and Hawkins Street  MAP

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Knights of Pythias Temple
DESCRIPTION: Constructed by black craftsmen in the Knights of Pythias as the state headquarters in 1915; designed by William S Pittman, the 1st Black architect in Dallas; designated a Dallas Historic Landmark since 1989

ADDRESS: 2551 Elm Street  MAP

PHONE: 214-428-6701

Universal Life insurance Building
DESCRIPTION: Historic location of a Black life insurance company; the building was destroyed for a new development

ADDRESS: 1800 block of Routh Street next to St. Paul CME Church  MAP

Juanita Craft House
DESCRIPTION: Juanita Craft's permitted her house of 50 years to served as a civil rights school; Juanita (1902-1985) served 25 years as Dallas NAACP precinct chairperson; despite personal risk, organized rural NAACP chapters across Texas in 1940s and 50s; she helped desegregate University of Texas Law School, North Texas State U, State Fair of Texas, Dallas lunch counters, theaters and restaurants; Craft was the first black woman to vote in Dallas and was a national delegate to the 1976 Democratic Convention; she was elected to Dallas city council at age 73; FREE admission; Tue-Fri 10a-4p

ADDRESS: 2618 Warren Ave  MAP

PHONE: 214-670-8584

Tenth Street Historic District
DESCRIPTION: Oldest relatively intact Freedmen’s Town in Dallas, with many of its original buildings still standing; a starter neighborhood for African Americans soon after Emancipation, most of the remaining historic houses were built between 1890 and the early 1940’s in various folk designs such as shotgun, double shotgun and camel back; these modest houses are indicative of the skill and artistry of Black craftspeople

ADDRESS: bounded by East Clarendon, South Fleming, 35E Freeway, East 8th, eastern end of Church, East 9th and Plum  MAP

Wheatley Place Historic District
DESCRIPTION: Named for the poet Phyllis Wheatley, this district, consisting mostly of wood frame bungalows dating from 1916 to the mid-1930s, is one of Dallas’ first planned residential areas for Black families.  It was constructed in an effort to segregate African American housing in Dallas in the early 20th century; attracted Black ministers and business leaders

ADDRESS: bounded by Warren, Atlanta, McDermott, Meadow, Oakland and Dathe Streets  MAP

Lincoln High School
DESCRIPTION: Opened 1939, one of Dallas' oldest schools for African Americans

ADDRESS: Malcolm X Blvd & Hatcher Street  MAP

Hamilton Park Neighborhood
DESCRIPTION: This 175-acre neighborhood was one of the first suburbs in Texas built explicitly for African Americans; the community was developed in 1953

ADDRESS: Forest Lane at Schroeder  MAP

Romine Avenue Historic District
DESCRIPTION: This district in South Dallas was built exclusively for African Americans as segregated housing in early 20th Century Dallas; 17 houses in the district, built between 1928 and 1940, were the first in the area to be constructed of brick and stone and were historically occupied by prominent African American educators, hotel proprietors and Pullman porters

ADDRESS: Romine Avenue between Octavia and Latimer Streets  MAP

Queen City Heights Historic District
DESCRIPTION: Developed around a Reconstruction-era settlement of farmers and workers, Queen City is significant as the historic center of the African American community in South Dallas.  Populated by working-class Black families in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Queen City helped spawn the subsequent development of surrounding African American neighborhoods

ADDRESS: bounded by Eugene, Cooper, Latimer, Kynard and Dildock Streets  MAP

Fort Worth, TX

Bill Pickett Statue
DESCRIPTION: This bronze statue commemorates the world famous Black cowboy Willie M. (Bill) Pickett; he invented the sport of bulldogging (or “kissing the bull”); first Black man inducted into the Cowboy Hall of Fame; the statue is the first to honor a Black rodeo cowboy

ADDRESS: 121 East Exchange Ave in front of Cowtown Coliseum  MAP

James E. Guinn School
DESCRIPTION: James E. Guinn, the son of former slaves, grew up in Fort Worth and was educated in the city’s earliest school for African Americans.  After serving as a professor at Prairie View College, Guinn returned to Fort Worth in 1900 to become the principal of South Side Colored School, the city’s first African American public school.  The school was later rebuilt and renamed for Guinn after his death in 1917

ADDRESS: 1200 South Freeway  MAP