North Central Expressway replaced the H&TC Railroad tracks, dividing North Dallas into East and West, which greatly disrupted the lives of Freedman’s Town residents. There were large evictions from North Dallas because the highway created a barrier that stifled new businesses and development of the community that was previously thriving there. Now families were not able to see each other if they lived across the highway, creating an impenetrable divide (Prior and Kemper, 2005, p. 191).
In addition, it destroyed many historical buildings and sites, such as the Freedman’s Cemetery, that were important to African Americans throughout Dallas (Holliday, par. 6).
In addition to dividing North Dallas and causing migration towards the South, it also bisected C.F. Hawn Freeway, cutting off Bonton and Lincoln Manor from downtown, which was previously accessible by foot. These barriers divided the neighborhoods from the rest of Dallas and halted their development (Holliday, par. 5).
This is only one example of the harm that the highway system in Dallas has caused. While North Central Expressway did lead to Dallas economic expansion, it only benefitted affluent white populations, while tearing apart minority communities. Instead of offering solutions to the housing crisis this construction caused, it forced the residents of Freedman’s Town to relocate to areas in South Dallas that were suffering financially without any government assistance. This disparity was built into the fabric of Dallas’ urban planning and will remain there unless the government intervenes to right the historic wrongs (Holliday, par. 9-11).
If you would like to skip ahead on the timeline to topics related to the Dallas highway system, click on the topics below:
I-30 divides North and South Dallas, creating hardship on the communities that were divided by the highway both financially and culturally:
Woodall Rodgers Freeway divided Freedman’s Town North Dallas from downtown Dallas, causing migration to South Dallas:
Sources:
Holliday, K. (n.d.). The Road to Disinvestment: How Highways Divided the City and Destroyed Neighborhoods. AIA Dallas. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.aiadallas.org/v/blog-detail/The-Road-to-Disinvestment-How-Highways-Divided-the-City-and-Destroyed-Neighborhoods/pt/
Prior, M., & Kemper, R. V. (2005). From Freedman’s Town To Uptown: Community Transformation And Gentrifícation In Dallas, Texas. Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development, 34(2/3), 177–216.
Prior, M. (2020, June 17). TSHA | Freedmantown/North Dallas. Texas State Historical Association. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/freedmantownnorth-dallas