Fourth Ward has been a community in transition for an extended period of time. The heart of this community was Freedman’s Town, a settlement of freed slaves on the western edge of the post-Civil War city. Fourth Ward was a major commercial and cultural center for Houston’s widely scattered African American community. After the construction of Interstate 45 cut off the eastern edge of the community, that portion was redeveloped as the Allen Center office, hotel, and retail center. Since then, absentee property owners have anticipated redevelopment of the remaining area. The Allen Parkway Village public housing project was built in the area during the 1940s, and its recent redevelopment has helped spur redevelopment of the remaining area. A major portion of the Fourth Ward has been included within a tax increment reinvestment zone.

  • Houston City Council District I
  • Houston Independent School District (2 public schools – HISD)
  • 298 acres (0.47 sq. miles)