Freedman's Cemetery - Dallas, Texas
LOCATION / DIRECTIONS: 2700 block of Lemmon
Avenue west of Central Expressway ( US Hwy 75)
(Dallas MAPSCO 45 C)
FREEDMAN'S CEMETERY
This area of Dallas
County was settled by former African American slaves shortly after
the conclusion of the American Civil War. Freedman's Cemetery,
a graveyard for African Americans, was established in 1869 on
one acre of land purchased by trustee Sam Eakins. Another 3 acres
was acquired for cemetery purposes in 1879 by trustees. A. Wilhite,
Frank Read, A. Boyd, T. Watson, George English, Silas Pitman,
and the Rev. A. R. Griggs, a former slave who later became a prominent
local church leader and champion of early public education for
the African American community. The community of churches, commercial
enterprises, and residences that had developed in this area by
the turn of the 20th century was by 1912 a part of the City of
Dallas. Construction of the Central Expressway through here in
the 1930s virtually eliminated all physical above-ground reminders
of the cemetery. Descendants of persons buried here and the City
of Dallas agreed in 1965 to establish the Freedman's Memorial
Park and Cemetery at this site. Beginning in 1989 representatives
of the community worked with the City of Dallas and the Texas
Department of Transportation to preserve the historic Freedman's
Cemetery site prior to highway expansion.
MAP: (Courtesy MapQuest.com)
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Compiled by M C Toyer
[email protected]