Black Towns Matter

I’ve started running the Independence Heights neighborhood of Houston and began to learn some of its compelling history.

The city incorporated on January 24, 1915 and had around 600 residents the time. Independence Heights was largely built by its own residents from the houses to the churches and schools. After becoming incorporated, there were many city improvements over the next few years that included the “shell paving of streets, plank sidewalks and the installation of a municipal water system.”

By 1920, the city had 715 residents and in November 1928, residents voted to dissolve the incorporation of Independence Heights so the community could become a part of Houston. Houston annexed the former city on December 26, 1929. The residents hoped to receive improved city services, streets and utilities from the annexation. These improvements didn’t happen.

In 1940, only about 23% of Black households in Houston had running water. By comparison, 95% of non-Black homes had water service. Residents paid city taxes and did not receive equal services.

Independence Heights is one of only 50 or 60 Black towns in the U.S. to be legally incorporated as a city and was the first in Texas. The National Register of Historic Places lists 290 entries for Houston. Of those, 13 are places related to the experience of Black Americans—roughly 4.5%. That’s an overwhelmingly small percentage, yet it’s more than twice the share of historic sites nationwide—just 2%—that are focused on Black history.

For further reading check out The struggle to preserve the Black experience in Houston from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University.

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Photo by Peter Molick