Terrell Heights

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Terrell Heights, over in Tarrant County. Now settle in, because this is a neighborhood story, and neighborhood stories have layers. It starts before the turn of the twentieth century, when somebody took a plat map and drew lines on land in the near southeast part of Fort Worth.

Late 1880s. Lines on paper. That's all it was.

But then the streetcar systems came threading through in the early 1900s, and suddenly those lines on paper started meaning something. And what they eventually meant, for a great many African Americans, was home. The premier home.

That's not my word. That's the record's word. Premier.

The neighborhood known as Terrell Heights was virtually built out by 1951, mostly single-family houses, with a few apartment buildings and duplexes woven through. A real, breathing, standing neighborhood. But before all that standing could happen, somebody had to say: come on.

Come build. I'll help you do it. That somebody was William Madison McDonald.

Now, the marker gives you his full name, and it gives you his nickname, and the nickname alone tells you this was not an ordinary man. They called him Gooseneck Bill. He was a local African American banker, and he was himself a resident of Terrell Heights from around 1911.

He bought lots in the area and sold them to African Americans. Then, on top of that, he offered to finance the building of their residences. Think about what that means.

He wasn't just pointing people toward a neighborhood and wishin' them luck. He was removing the barriers, one lot at a time, one loan at a time. The people who followed McDonald into Terrell Heights read like a cross-section of everything a community needs to be whole.

Doctors. Dentists. Nurses.

Educators. Religious leaders. Laborers.

Every pillar you'd want. Reverend A.W. Pryor lived there and served as pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, from 1924 to 1949.

Dr. George D. Flemmings was a dentist and also president of the Fort Worth-Tarrant County branch of the NAACP, holding that position from around 1937 all the way to 1975, guiding the organization through the desegregation clashes in Fort Worth and reaching out to assist other nearby communities as well.

Mrs. Lucille Smith made history as the first African American woman to be a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. And then there was the Grand Theater, the first theater in Fort Worth built specifically for African Americans, opened in 1938, equipped with the newest and best equipment available.

All of this, in one neighborhood. Social institutions formed with the neighborhood's best interests at heart. Commercial establishments.

Churches. A community that didn't wait for someone else to build it for them, because a banker named Gooseneck Bill had already shown them how it was done. Change has come through the years, as it always does.

But the families of Terrell Heights have held on to something the marker calls a tight-knit community, bound together by a common history. That history goes back to the late 1880s, when somebody drew lines on a map, not knowing what those lines would one day hold.

What the marker says

Platted in the late 1880s and developed around the city's streetcar systems in the early 1900s, the near southeast neighborhood known as Terrell Heights became the premier neighborhood for many African Americans. Virtually built out by 1951, the majority of the neighborhood was devoted to single-family development with a few apartment buildings and duplexes spread throughout the area. Many of the first occupants in this area were encouraged to purchase lots and build their own homes by local African American banker, William Madison "Gooseneck Bill" McDonald. Himself a resident of the neighborhood since circa 1911, McDonald bought lots in this area and sold them to African Americans. He then offered to finance the building of residences. Those who followed McDonald into the area included doctors, dentists, nurses, educators, religious leaders and laborers. Fellow resident Reverend A.W. Pryor was pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church (1924-1949). Dr. George D. Flemmings was a dentist and president of the Fort Worth-Tarrant County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was president circa 1937-1975 during the desegregation clashes in Fort Worth and assisted other nearby communities. Mrs. Lucille Smith was the first African American woman to be a member of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Social institutions were formed with the neighborhood's best interests at heart as well as several commercial establishments and churches. The first theater in Fort Worth to be built specifically for African Americans, the Grand Theater, opened in 1938 with the newest and best equipment. Though change has occurred through the years, the neighborhood's families have established a tight-knit community bound together by a common history. (2017)