Freedmen’s Town, located in Houston’s Fourth Ward, holds profound historical significance as a community established by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. Its hand-laid brick streets, especially along Andrews and Wilson Streets, stand as a physical testament to the resilience and determination of its early residents. Over time, aging infrastructure and environmental deterioration threatened the area’s historic fabric, prompting efforts to rehabilitate without erasing the area’s legacy.
TEI worked closely with the City of Houston and community stakeholders to develop a DCR to carefully understand and integrate the communities’ goals using a range of engagement strategies and design approaches. Multiple stakeholder and public meetings were held, where residents emphasized the importance of accessible sidewalks, brick preservation, improved drainage, and maintaining the symbolic streetcar alignment. Through a collaborative and transparent process, a preferred design was developed, blending two approaches: minimizing brick disturbance where possible and rebuilding areas with significant street deterioration while salvaging and reusing historic bricks.
The plan includes preserving original street patterns, creating accessible walkways, consolidating overhead utilities, and adding urban design elements that honor the area’s rich history. The resulting plan has set a path for the City of Houston to move forward with the design of the Brick Streets in 2025.
2025 Gold Award: Advancing Diversity and Social Change, APA Houston Chapter
Challenge
Building alignment and trust to develop recommended improvements to protect the neighborhood’s legacy for future generations while addressing aging infrastructure.
Solution
Thoughtful community engagement proved critical, to overcome mistrust from past city-led projects and fears of losing Freedmen’s Town’s cultural identity. The project used innovative engagement techniques and policies to achieve a resilient street and infrastructure design, while maintaining the rich historical identity and character of Freedmen’s Town. A key element of the plan was to walk the corridor with all of the residents and collaboratively develop an approach that replaced aging utility infrastructure, while minimally disturbing the existing bricks in good condition and restoring other sections of the street.
2025 Gold Award: Advancing Diversity and Social Change, APA Houston Chapter
