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Across the United States, after the Civil War ended in 1865, formerly enslaved African Americans built Freedom Communities (also known as freedom colonies), often next to the plantations where they had been held. They were followed by hundreds of emancipated African Americans from elsewhere who sought work, refuge, and lost family members. 

The Freedmen’s Bureau for the region was located in Austin, and the men assigned to the bureau worked to assist formerly enslaved people to adjust to life as free people, to ensure the rights of freed people, and to promote community solidarity.  

In Austin, Texas, there were more than 15 of these communities — such as Clarksville, South Side, and Wheatville. Black people created thriving neighborhoods from the ground up, from businesses to schools and churches. In the early 1900s, these same people were displaced from their communities because of discriminatory city mandates. Today, these same regions are some of Austin’s most prominent neighborhoods.