Community
The Clarksville neighborhood in Austin is on
the National Register of Historic Places and is a Texas State Historic
Landmark. It is one of only two African-American places on the
National Register in the entire U.S. The other is the birthplace
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. Clarksville is also the
home of other homes and buildings which are national or local historic
landmarks. The boundaries of the neighborhood are West Lynn,
MoPac, Waterston, and W. 10th St., comprising around 9 city blocks.
Clarksville was founded in 1871 by Charles
Clark, a freed slave who envisioned the new community as a place where
united families could live after the Civil War and emancipation.
It was the first freedom town west to the Mississippi River. A
few years earlier, in 1865, Texas Governor, Elisha Pease granted land
from his plantation in the area to some of his slaves. The Pease
mansion stands at the corner of Niles Rd. and Pease Rd. with Woodlawn
Ave stretching from the south side of the mansion to the historic
Haskell House on Waterston Ave. in Clarksville.
One of the early residents of Clarksville was
the first black Texas State Legislator, Elias Mays, who built his home
in the community in 1884. Another resident of the area was the
Rev. Jacob Fontaine, one of the founders of the Sweet Home Baptist
Church on W. 11th St. He also published the “Gold Dollar”,
Austin’s first black newspaper.
The land where the Haskell House sits was purchase by Peter
Tucker, a freed slave in @ 1875, he fought for the Union Army during
the Civil War and was later a Buffalo Soldier. Tucker sold the
property to a married couple in the late 1880’s who later gave the
house to their daughter and her husband, Hezikiah Haskell. Early
meetings of the Sweet Home Baptist Church were held at the house.
Of the remaining historic houses in the neighborhood, the Haskell House
is the most representative and the oldest of the Cumberland style
houses first built in the area.
In 2002, the Austin City Council granted the
Haskell House status as a City Historic Landmark. The Austin
Parks and Recreation Dept. owns thee site and it is leased to the
Clarksville Community Development Corp., which is working with
guidelines form the Texas Historical Commission on the restoration and
repair of the unique house. Although the Clarksville Community
Development Corp has received some funding for the project form grants,
more funds are still needed.
As part of the restoration and improvement of
the grounds at the Haskell House, a community garden named after Peter
Tucker has been stared at the rear of the house. Inspiration and
guidance for this project has come form local gardener Jake
Billingsley, who was instrumental in getting historic recognition for
the Haskell house. The City of Austin, the Clarksville community,
and American Youth Works all worked together to start the garden in the
fall of 2004.
For more info contact Jake at 236-9170 or jake@blluebonnetsandrain.com