Few Green Book sites remain in Austin
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Pages of Green Book guides that include Austin homes and businesses. Photo: Courtesy of New York Public Library
A former restaurant, hotel and several homes were once listed in "The Negro Motorist Green Book" guides as safe places for Black travelers to visit while passing through Austin.
As Black History Month concludes, we took a look at what's become of those sites as the city transforms.
State of play: At least seven sites in East Austin were listed in the travel guides, according to an Axios review of copies of the Green Book saved online by the New York Public Library.
Now, those spots are offices or homes.
Why it matters: These sites are a reminder of how recently segregation was legal and what history we decide to preserve.
- The books printed between 1936 and 1966 listed businesses Black travelers could safely visit during the Jim Crow era.
Details: Austin locations first appeared in the Green Book in 1940, and four addresses appear to be current homes or businesses:
- Mrs. R. S. Lovingood Tourist Home at 803 E. 13th St. no longer exists.
- Mrs. J. W. Duncan Tourist Home at 1214 E. Seventh St. is currently the law office of Peek and Tolland Attorneys and an Austin historic landmark.
- Mrs. J. W. Frazier Tourist Home at 810 E. 13th St. is now a private home. The home, built in 1876, has a "century-long connection to African American history," per a listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
- Porter's Tourist Home at 1315 E. 12th St. is a private home.
- Mrs. W. M. Tears Tourist Home at 1203 E. 12th St. no longer exists.
- Southern Restaurant at 1010 E. 11th St. is now the office of Hatch + Ulland Owen Architects.
- De Luxe Hotel at 1103 Navasota St. no longer exists.
Zoom in: East 11th Street was bustling Friday afternoon with shoppers and workers rushing to happy hour.
- Cars zipped down the road painted with "Black Artists Matter" in big yellow letters, and pedestrians strolled past 1010 E. 11th Street, where an inconspicuous plaque designated the building as a historic landmark by the city and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
- The building, constructed in 1906, was previously home to a bakery, café, Southern Dinette Restaurant, a barber shop and recreation club. Green Book listed the site during its time as Southern Restaurant.
- The building is "one of the few remaining early commercial structures in East Austin," according to the National Register of Historic Places, and during its time as Arnold's Bakery, the business "provided sustenance and sweets to all, regardless of the changing times and colors."
What they're saying: "It’s a terrible part of our history," architect Erik Ulland, who works in the building, told former Austin American-Statesman columnist Ken Herman in 2019.
The bottom line: By the last edition of the book, dated 1966–67, only three sites were still listed in Austin: the Duncan and Porter tourist homes and Southern Restaurant.