IronTiger Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 OK, help me out here: in 2005-2006, I read an article in the Houston Chronicle about a controversial road repair, in which a road somewhere in Houston had bricks that were laid by former slaves, and that workers were to remove the bricks (and place them back) to do utility repairs. Which road was that, and was the outcome of it? I've kind of wanted to know as of late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 (edited) Actually, it was two streets, both in the area known as Freedmen's Town, a community founded and built by former slaves just west of downtown Houston. Here's a link to the newspaper article you mention. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/New-plan-would-leave-brick-streets-undisturbed-1530969.php Edited December 19, 2013 by FilioScotia 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarosurf Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Zoom in on Google Maps and you can see them. Sabine street in the 6th ward is also brick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted December 19, 2013 Author Share Posted December 19, 2013 Oh wow! That's really neat. It looks like at Andrews and Wilson, there used to be a trolley line at one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croberts Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 I think it was originally a horsecar line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted December 26, 2013 Author Share Posted December 26, 2013 Regardless, the fact that it can still be seen in the year 2013 is a very neat sight indeed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinister1 Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Mostly all roads with in the city limits had brick streets especially the one where trolleys ran through. Below is a pic of Houston Avenue. I wonder if they were all done by slaves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinister1 Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Here is another brick laid street. I think it's Washington Ave. headed towards downtown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinister1 Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 Here is another brick laid street. I think it's Washington Ave. headed towards downtown. Although this street looks like they have already black topped it, you can still see brick under where the pavement is cracked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 The point was that Freedmen's Town was founded and built by former slaves entirely, not that it used slave labor. The newspaper article was about how workers circa 2006 wanted to take out, clean, fix utilities, and replace the bricks, and how preservationists did not like the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinister1 Posted January 25, 2014 Share Posted January 25, 2014 The point was that Freedmen's Town was founded and built by former slaves entirely, not that it used slave labor. The newspaper article was about how workers circa 2006 wanted to take out, clean, fix utilities, and replace the bricks, and how preservationists did not like the idea. Okay, thanks for clearing that up, I wasn't really saying it was built by slave labor; what I meant to say was I was just wondering if it was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle C Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 When I was a kid in grade school we lived on Heights Blvd. At that time Heights Blvd was still a brick street. I am not sure but it may have still had the trolley tracks on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Here is another brick laid street. I think it's Washington Ave. headed towards downtown. I think this is actually looking away from downtown. That would be the old Brazos Hotel on the left. This site is currently the front of the main downtown post office. Very interesting photo. The old Southern Pacific station is on the right. The picture has to date from before 1934, since that is when the Brazos Hotel was demolished and the new Southern Pacific Station built over this section of Washington Ave. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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