Vacant Lots, Living Memories: Tenth Street’s Echoes Shape Dallas’s Future
Just south of downtown Dallas, the Tenth Street Historic District stands as a rare survivor among the nation’s original Freedom Colonies—communities built by formerly enslaved people after Emancipation. Though vacant lots now outnumber homes, the neighborhood’s legacy pulses through stories, landmarks, and the determination of its residents.
Founded in the late 1880s, Tenth Street offered African American families a place to own land and build businesses in a society stacked against them. At its height, the district buzzed with schools, shops, churches, and a soda pop factory.
Today, Tenth Street is both a national landmark and one of America’s most endangered historic places, threatened by city demolitions and tangled property rights.
Community groups like kinkofa and Remembering Black Dallas are capturing oral histories, digitizing family archives, and training young historians to preserve and share these stories.
Tenth Street’s past is not just remembered—it’s actively reclaimed, turning forgotten corners into living chapters of American resilience.
#FreedomColonies #DallasHistory #BlackHeritage #Culture
