Just the previous month he had been in the cemetery in Dallas’ Tenth Street Historic District when two houses burned. As he neared the source of what he thought was white smoke in February, Swann could see and hear construction vehicles. Maybe it wasn’t a fire. Maybe it was another demolition.
As the landmark commissioner for the area, Dallas City Council’s District 4, Swann said he should’ve gotten the heads up if a structure was being taken down. It turned out to be a construction crew working on one of the streets in the neighborhood. Swann’s concerns didn’t come out of the blue, though. Swift demolitions have rocked the neighborhood for years. And in December and January, four houses caught fire in and around Tenth Street.
Residents and advocacy groups held a press conference in the Tenth Street Historic District last week to talk about the struggles they face trying to preserve the neighborhood, including demolitions and the recent fires.
One factor that’s made preservation exceptionally difficult is a 2010 ordinance that allows for the prompt demolition of structures smaller than 3,000 square feet. Residents in the neighborhood said the ordinance is racist and called for it to be abolished.
“It’s a very racist policy that just affects African American historic districts, specifically Tenth Street and Wheatley Place,” Larry Johnson, a part time Tenth Street resident, said at the press conference. According to the city’s website, the Wheatley Place Historic District is one of the first and most successful residential subdivisions created specifically for Black residents in Dallas.
“These two historic districts are based on African American history and structures and almost none of them are over 3,000 square feet,” Johnson said. “So, if an owner purchases a house in Tenth Street or Wheatley Place and they want it torn down, they don’t really have to go through a whole lot to have that done. It’s a racist policy that needs to go away.”“Ultimately what we’re asking for is a revival of African-American history.” – Larry Johnson, Tenth Street resident
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Johnson is also a member of the Tenth Street Residential Association and a representative on the Tenth Street task force for the landmark commission. He said the neighbors aren’t opposed to new construction. “We just want new, appropriate construction, historically appropriate,” Johnson said. “Ultimately what we’re asking for is a revival of African American history.”
Tim Hill, president of Heritage Oak Cliff, said at the press conference that the organization has worked to “enhance the architectural, historic and cultural heritage of Oak Cliff” since 1974. He said the organization supports Oak Cliff with assistance and grants and acts as the umbrella organization of neighborhoods for greater advocacy and representation within the city. He said the Tenth Street Historic District is one of the most important historic neighborhoods in Dallas because of its beginnings as a freedman’s town.
It’s been recognized as a city of Dallas landmark and historic district, and is listed on the national register of historic places. In 2019, the neighborhood was chosen as one of the nation’s most endangered historic places because of the number of court-ordered demolitions that were taking place. “Now another issue threatens the neighborhood in the form of fires, destroying even more houses and further jeopardizing the fabric of this important historic neighborhood,” Hill said.
He said Heritage Oak Cliff helped the neighborhood in 2019 by supporting a lawsuit it brought against the city over the 2010 ordinance responsible for a lot of Tenth Street’s destruction. That year, Legal Aid of Northwest Texas and the Tenth Street Residential Association sued Dallas, claiming homes in the neighborhood were being demolished at a disproportionate rate. The neighborhood was given its historic designation in 1993. Between then and 2017, the city demolished 72 of the district’s 260 homes, according to the suit.
“We support the Tenth Street residential groups in calling for more proactive measures to help preserve the historic resources in Tenth Street before they disappear due to lack of investment,” Hill said. “Tenth Street needs more houses to fill the vacant lots that blend with the historic character of the existing ones and help bringing back residents. Tenth Street is too important to the history of Dallas and everything should be done to help make sure that what is here today stands for generations to come.”
Hill said the city has home repair programs that could help, but the requirements limit access to Tenth Street residents. For example, Dallas’ home improvement and preservation program and the senior home repair program both require applicants to have the deed or title to their home.
“Everybody doesn’t have a clear deed to their homes over here, but they’ve been in the homes for over 20 years,” Patricia Cox, president of the Tenth Street Residential association and longtime neighborhood resident, said at the press conference. “That should count for something.”
The city does have a program to help residents resolve a variety of title and property issues. The Title and Property Assistance program was launched on a pilot basis in 2020 to provide legal aid to residents to help determine and document ownership of their homes.“We’re being left behind." – Patricia Cox, Tenth Street Residential Association
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If the 2010 ordinance isn’t abolished, Cox said she would like it to be changed to protect structures less than 3,000 square feet. She also called for more police in the neighborhood, saying neighbors hear gunshots every night.
“We’re being left behind,” she said.
In 2019, Carolyn King Arnold, the City Council member for the district, secured a five signature memo with help from others on council to temporarily halt the use of public funds on any demolitions in Tenth Street. Swann said he can’t recall any city-initiated or funded demolitions in Tenth Street since the 2019 memo. There have, however, been owner-initiated demolitions in the district since then.
Arnold is now mayor pro tem, and her office did not respond to requests for comment about abolishing the 2010 ordinance. While neighbors in Tenth Street wait for movement on the ordinance, they’re also getting help elsewhere.
It was announced at the press conference that a trio of organizations have been awarded a Library of Congress Community Collections Grant. Remembering Black Dallas, Tenth Street Residential Association and Kinkofa, an organization dedicated to helping people track down their family history, will utilize the grant over the next year to help preserve the history of the neighborhood.
