Once slavery was abolished at the end of the Civil War, many freed slaves began to locate in areas of Dallas called Freedman’s Towns. There were a few different “Freedman’s Towns” throughout different areas of Dallas, with a few in South and West Dallas and one in North Dallas. At the time, these included Upper and Lower White Rock, Fields, The Prairie, Elm Thicket, Joppa, and Tenth Street (Prior, 2020, par. 1).
Tenth Street was a Freedman’s Town in South Dallas and later became a historical landmark, marking the only remaining Freedman’s Town in the country. Many of the residents of Tenth Street were rumored to be former slaves of a cotton farmer named William Brown Miller who also owned the Millermore Mansion (Tenth Street Historic District, par. 2).
In addition to Tenth Street, there was a Freedman’s Town in North Dallas where the current “Uptown” area thrives. It was known simply as “Freedmantown.” Prior to the reinvention of this area as the upscale town it is today, it was one of the largest Black areas in Dallas, thriving on businesses, culture, and religion (Prior and Kemper, 2005, p. 196-198).
If you would like to skip ahead on the timeline to topics related to Freeman’s Towns, click on the topics below:
Freedman’s Town North Dallas was transformed into the current “Uptown” area and many individuals were displaced:
The current state of one of the last Freedman’s Towns today, 10th Street:
Sources:
Prior, M. (2020, June 17). TSHA | Freedmantown/North Dallas. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/freedmantownnorth-dallas
Prior, M., & Kemper, R. V. (2005). From Freedman’s Town To Uptown: Community Transformation And Gentrification In Dallas, Texas. Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development, 34(2/3), 177–216.
Tenth Street Historic District. (n.d.). Dallas Landmark Historic Districts. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://dallascityhall.com/departments/sustainabledevelopment/historicpreservation/Pages/tenth_street.aspx