Texas district built by freed slaves fades away

One of the last surviving communities built by freed slaves after the U.S. Civil War is on the verge of disappearing, despite long efforts to save it.

The old buildings of Freedmen's Town in Houston are being bulldozed to make way for new homes in a transformation that preservationists say is wiping out an important piece of history.

The loss of Freedmen's Town is particularly significant because historians believe it was the largest of the freed slave settlements that was still intact architectually and to some degree culturally. Its long rows of narrow wooden houses, interspersed every block or two by churches, stood as a monument to the will of its founders to thrive despite bitter racism that forced them into isolation.

Freedmen's Town was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, with more than 530 buildings in a 40-block area in the shadow of downtown Houston. Today, only about 30 of those buildings remain and their fate is uncertain.