AUSTIN — Landmarks across East Austin are highlighted in a newly updated statewide guide released this February by the Texas Historical Commission, showcasing sites important to Black history and cultural preservation.
The digital guide, African Americans in Texas: A Lasting Legacy, lists schools, universities, monuments, churches, and other cultural sites established by Black communities during segregation.
East Austin locations include Huston-Tillotson University, formed in 1952 from two Reconstruction-era colleges, and the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, which preserves the city’s Black artistic legacy in a former segregated library branch. Historic neighborhoods such as Clarksville, Wheatville, and Gregorytown are also noted, along with Black churches like Wesley United Methodist Church and Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Public art commemorates the area’s cultural history, including the Rhapsody mural by John Yancey, celebrating East Austin’s jazz and blues scene, and the nearby Victory Grill, which hosted performers including B.B. King, Billie Holiday, and James Brown.
The guide also features sites across Texas, such as Freedmen’s Town in Dallas, the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, and historically Black colleges like Prairie View A&M University and Paul Quinn College. It is available as a free download through the Texas Historical Commission.
