1871 to Today
The story of Clarksville
One of the oldest freedmen’s towns west of the Mississippi, told in the moments that made it. A timeline from a single act of ownership to a protected, living neighborhood.
1871
A freedman buys two acres
Charles Clark, born enslaved in Mississippi about 1820, buys two acres a half mile west of Austin's city limits and builds his home at 1618 West 10th Street. He subdivides the land and sells parcels to other freedmen. A neighborhood is born.
1871
A church at the center
Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church is founded, with Rev. Jacob Fontaine as its first minister. For over 150 years it will remain the spiritual and social cornerstone of the community.
c. 1875 to 1887
The Haskell House rises
The Hezikiah Haskell House is built on Waterston Avenue, a simple hall-and-parlor home. It survives to this day as a City of Austin Local Historic Landmark and one of the clearest links to the founding generation.
1917
The Clarksville School opens
The Clarksville Colored School begins educating the neighborhood's children. It will serve the community until 1965; today the site is Mary Baylor Clarksville Park.
1935
A new sanctuary
Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church completes the sanctuary at 1725 West 11th Street that still holds service today, anchoring the neighborhood through a changing century.
1971
MoPac cuts through
Construction of MoPac (Loop 1) severs the western edge of the community. Families are relocated, and the number of homes in Clarksville falls from 162 in 1970 to fewer than 100 by 1976. The neighborhood's survival is suddenly in question.
1976
A stand, and a place on the register
Residents defeat a planned thoroughfare that would have cut through the neighborhood, and the Clarksville Community Development Corporation forms to preserve its character. That same year, Clarksville is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, recognized as one of the oldest freedmen's towns west of the Mississippi.
Today
A protected, living neighborhood
The story continues on restored cottage porches and along the West Lynn corridor. Clarksville is now one of Austin's most coveted addresses, walkable, historic, and fiercely loved, and its history is the reason it feels the way it does.
The story continues
“One of the oldest freedmen’s towns west of the Mississippi.”
Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas
Work with Luke
Live inside the story
Owning in Clarksville means becoming part of a 150-year story. Reach out to Luke to find and buy a home in one of Austin's most historic neighborhoods.
Luke Allen
Licensed Texas REALTOR, TREC #788149
Austin Marketing + Development Group