African American Tour

Thanks in part to the relationship between Sam Houston and Joshua Houston, his one-time slave, Joshua was able to acquire both wealth and prestige in the African American community of Huntsville. After the Civil War, the African American settlers enjoyed a period of growth and resurgence. African American businesses and numerous churches were constructed along 10th Street in an area known as Rogersville and along Avenue M, which people called The Drag.  Samuel Walker Houston Junior’s home site at Avenue N and 14th Street, built in the 1880s, still stands today. By the 1880s, the African American community and the churches created the Bishop Ward Normal and Collegiate Institute.  Several years later the Sam Houston Industrial and Training School was established. This tour will include visits to the Oakwood Cemetery and the grave sites of Joshua Houston and his family as well as the graves of many of the prominent African Americans of the period. We will also tour the Grant's Colony area and the site of the future Cultural Center. Our tour guides will also include a delicious lunch at one of the local African American restaurants.