Gregorytown

Travis County, TX

Status: Located

Year Established: 1865

Council of Governments: CAPCOG

Public History: There are no current descriptions related to Gregorytown in the public record. If you are aware of any sources that we may have missed please share them with us.

Community History: The freedmen community of Gregorytown was established east of Robertson Hill and the State Cemetery. It was roughly bounded by Chincapin Street (now Rosewood Avenue), Rector and Comal streets, E. 7th Street, and Chicon Street. According to Mears, the area was likely named for early resident Reverend Daniel Gregory. The Simpson Mission Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1880, and a school was established in 1894. Tillotson College and Normal Institute for African Americans opened the community in 1881, and Sam Huston and Tillotson colleges merged in 1952. In the nineteenth century, the area east of Gregorytown was largely farmland, and, as Mears noted, many of the community members were likely involved in agriculture. Today, the church, no known as Simpson United Methodist Chuch, remains an active congregation located at 1701 E. 12th Street. (From Travis County Historical Society’s African American Settlements Survey in Austin, TX).

Church: Simpson United Methodist Church

School: Blackshear Elementary School