We’re closing out Phase 1 of our search for Black Heritage Trees and our initial Community Listening Sessions in Houston’s Historic Third Ward with the Friends of Columbia Tap Trail at the iconic Eldorado Ballroom

📅 Friday, Sept 12th | Friday Coffee Chat Series
We were invited to join in their weekly Friday Coffee Chat on September 12th to explore stories of Black heritage in connection to Houston’s Columbia Tap Trail – a 4-mile stretch that was once part of a 50-mile rail line built by enslaved Black men to haul sugar + cotton from Brazoria County plantations into Houston.

And while today there are no plantations, no trains, no tracks, and no historical markers or monuments that speak to the experiences of these Black railroad builders, there are TREES throughout this trail that remember. Trees planted by the Black men who first laid down these tracks that became one of the first rail lines constructed in Texas and who watched this same line later carry Black leased convicts forced back onto plantations after “freedom.” And since there are no monuments to tell their story (yet 😉), these trees will stand as a living archive to this largely forgotten history.

Join us as we listen, remember, and map these Black heritage trees together.
Special thank you to Naomi Carrier and Dr. Alicia Odewale for connecting us with the Columbia Tap Trail community and organizing this important discussion.