Praries Lakes

Praries Lakes Towns:

Dallas Freedmen's Towns: There were several Freedman settlements established in the location of present-day Dallas. At the time of settlement, these places were located outside of Dallas
and as Dallas expanded, these areas were incorporated. These settlements included Alpha and Deep Ellum:

Alpha: "Alpha was on Preston Road (now State Highway 289) and Alpha Road four miles west of Richardson at a site now inside Dallas, in northern Dallas County. It was originally a freedmen's community that developed out of Farmers Branch and was on the principal route of transportation between Farmers Branch and Garland. A post office operated in Alpha from 1893 until 1904. E. C. Bramlett opened the first general store in 1895, and by 1933 the community had two businesses. The population was 111 in 1904 but decreased to fifty in 1933, where it remained in 1987, the last year it was listed as a community."

-Bibliography:
Daniel Hardy, Dallas County Historic Resources Survey (Dallas: Dallas Historical Commission, 1982).
David S. Switzer, It's Our Dallas County (Dallas: Switzer, 1954).

Deep Ellum: "Deep Ellum is an entertainment and arts district on Elm Street east of downtown Dallas in Dallas County. The area was settled as a "freedmens' town" by former slaves after the Civil War; qv its location on Elm Street, just east of the Houston and Texas Central tracks near the depot, was too far from downtown Dallas to be desirable. The area was called Deep Elm or, as early residents pronounced it, "Deep Ellum." Because of the proximity of the railroad it was also called Central Track.

Several industries were located in Deep Ellum at one time. Robert S. Munger qv invented a new cotton gin in Mexia in 1883 that revolutionized the ginning industry. He built his first factory to manufacture the new gin in Deep Ellum in 1884. His company, Munger Improved Cotton Machine Company, merged with several smaller companies in 1899 to form the Continental Gin Company. In 1913 Henry Ford opened several regional assembly plants to supplement the manufacture of Model Ts at his Detroit plant. One was built in Deep Ellum and served as the Southwestern Ford Assembly Plant. The Grand Temple of the Black Knights of Pythias was designed in 1916 by William Sidney Pittman qv and constructed in Deep Ellum. In addition to serving as the state headquarters for the Knights, the building held offices of black doctors, dentists, and lawyers. It was therefore the first commercial building built for and by blacks in Dallas. An auditorium-ballroom on the top floor was used for dances, assemblies, and parties. At one time the Dallas Express , a weekly black newspaper, was published in the Temple, and the state and local headquarters of the YMCA were there.
By the 1920s the Deep Ellum area had become a retail and entertainment center for Dallas residents, primarily African Americans. qv Anything could be bought in the stores along Elm: new and used merchandise including furniture, clothing, shoes, and jewelry. Deep Ellum was famous for its "Pawnshop Row," where more than ten pawnshops operated until the 1950s. Entertainment was an important part of the business of Deep Ellum, which became a mecca for jazz and blues artists. In 1920 twelve nightclubs, cafes, and domino parlors were open in Deep Ellum, and by 1950 the number had grown to twenty. Many famous jazz and blues musicians played in the neighborhood at some time, including Blind Lemon Jefferson and Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins. qqv Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter qv began performing in 1920 in Deep Ellum, before he began his career in Greenwich Village in New York. Crap games in the back rooms of the domino parlors necessitated keeping an eye out for the police. Deep Ellum had a red-light district, and murders were not uncommon near the nightclubs and domino parlors.

Deep Ellum declined throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The Houston and Texas Central tracks and depot were removed. The growth of Dallas suburbs encouraged businesses in the area to move to shopping malls. As cars became more prevalent the pedestrian traffic decreased, and when the streetcar line was abandoned in 1956 it decreased still further. In 1954 the Uptown Improvement League was formed to improve business in Deep Ellum, including provision of off-street parking, but the area continued to decline. In 1969 the new elevation of Central Expressway bisected Deep Ellum and eliminated the 2400 block of Elm, the center of the community. By the 1970s and early 1980s few businesses remained.

In January 1983 the Near East Side Area Planning Study, or, as it was commonly called, the Deep Ellum Plan, was unveiled. This plan to redevelop the area called for Deep Ellum to be "downzoned" so as to keep the atmosphere on a small, artsy level. The height of buildings was to be limited, the streets would not be widened, and population would be kept down. While this was happening, artists were moving into the area, and art galleries and nightclubs were renovating the vacant buildings. By 1991 Deep Ellum had become popular as a nightspot for young urban dwellers and had fifty-seven bars and nightclubs. In addition, a plethora of avant-garde shops sold a variety of merchandise, including clothing, antiques, crafts, and art works."

-Bibliography:
Denise M. Ford, Deep Ellum (MS, Dallas/Texas Collection, Dallas Public Library, 1985).
Alan Govenar, "Them Deep Ellum Blues," Legacies: A History Journal for Dallas and North Central Texas 2 (Spring 1990).
Virginia and Lee McAlester, Discover Dallas-Fort Worth (New York: Knopf, 1988).
William L. McDonald, Dallas Rediscovered: A Photographic Chronicle of Urban Expansion, 1870-1925 (Dallas: Dallas County Historical Society, 1978).

Downsville (McLennan County)

Neylandvillle (Hunt County) - "The history of Neylandville began when "Free" Jim Brigham bought his freedom from Robert Neyland, and then used money that he garnered from working on county road construction and for other farmers to buy land on what is now Farm Road 2874, ten miles north of Greenville.  Before emancipation was announced in Hunt County sometime in the late summer or early fall of 1865, Brigham had managed to purchase not only his freedom but the freedom of his wife and some of their children.

Neylandville became a mecca of sorts for freed slaves from all over the county, and from surrounding counties.  By 1880, the town had a school, St. Paul School, which became and remained the black educational center for the county for many years.  In 1886, the St. Louis and Southwestern railroad reached the city, followed by a post office that operated from 1888 until 1924.
 
Today, descendants of "Free Jim" still live in Neylandville, and, in spite of a population decline since the 1960s, many of Neylandville's residents can still trace their roots to the days of slavery in Hunt County."

Oldham

Quakertown [presently Denton]: "Quakertown was an African-American community inside the city of Denton in central Denton County. The boundaries of the community were Withers Street on the north, McKinney Street to the south, Vine Street on the east, and Oakland Avenue on the west. Quakertown, most likely so named for the northern Quakers who aided freedmen in the early years of Reconstruction, qv began to form as a separate community within the Denton city limits by the mid-1870s. Black families from Freeman Town, the first black settlement in Denton, relocated to Quakertown after a black school was opened there in 1878. The first school building burned down in 1913 and was rebuilt in 1915. By the 1880s Quakertown had a number of stores and churches, and several communal organizations, including the Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias, qv also served as centers of community life. E. D. Moten, the only black doctor in Denton in the early 1900s, lived in the community. In March 1921 a petition was presented at the Denton city commission meeting to hold a bond election to purchase all the land encompassed by Quakertown and turn it into a city park. The bond election passed, and in May 1922 the city of Denton began to purchase Quakertown properties. Residents were given the choice of selling their land and property outright or having their houses moved to Solomon Hill, a site on the other side of the railroad tracks selected by the city. Quakertown soon disappeared."

-Bibliography
Quakertown, 1870-1922 (MS, Denton County Historical Commission, Denton, Texas, 1991).

Shiloh (Gregg County)

Sources

"Quakertown" The Handbook of Texas Online - [Accessed Fri Jul 4 6:15:15 US/Central 2003]. by Mark Odintz
"Alpha" The Handbook of Texas Online - [Accessed Fri Jul 4 6:15:15 US/Central 2003]. by Matthew Hayes Nall
"DEEP ELLUM." The Handbook of Texas Online. [Accessed Fri Jul 4 6:41:21 US/Central 2003 ]. by Lisa C. Maxwell
History of Neylandville