Wheatville was founded by James Wheat, a former slave, in 1867. After migrating to Texas with his family, Wheat purchased various plots of land. Nearly all citizens had jobs such as merchants, skilled labour workers and domestics for white families. In the neighbourhood's community centre, African-American families were housed and their services were given to the community. It eventually became home to Jacob Fontaine, a minister and former slave. He established the first black newspaper there – the The majority of the community remained African-American and stayed largely isolated until gentrification took place. The sustainability of the community was threatened and ultimately destroyed by the City Plan of 1928. Austin relocated all resources and public facilities for African-Americans on the East side of what is currently Interstate Highway 35. The city could not directly force them to leave, but by relocating essential resources, left community members with no other choice. More Caucasian citizens moved into the neighborhood, increased the cost of living. African-American community members struggled with the high cost of housing. By 1932, the city closed the only school in Wheatville, which eventually led to the end of the community. Because the 300-person Wheatville community was housed on the West side of the interstate in what is now the present-day West Campus of the University of Texas at Austin, the community centre is no longer in the centre of the African-American community. A stone house built by Jacob Fontaine was bought by the Franzetti family and renovated into a grocery store in the 1920s, operating until the 1980s. In August 1977, the City of Austin deemed the stone building a historical landmark. Sometime after 1998 Cuatro Kowalski moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas, He purchased the building and formed it into a barbecue known as "Freedman's." The name was meant to pay homage to the African-American community of Wheatville, but many found the name offensive. Kowalski finally shut down Freedman on August 31, 2018. Along with Freedman's, a neighbourhood grocery store was named "Wheatsville" in honour of the African-American community.
