blackaustintours

Join us for a one-time-only bus tour to St. John Colony, a historic freedom colony in neighboring Caldwell County.

Texas is home to more than 500 known freedom colonies, which are communities founded by Black people seeking land, independence, and the chance to shape their own lives after emancipation.

Places like St. John have deep ties to Austin. Many Black Austinites have roots in rural communities like this, and the movement from those communities to the city helped shape Austin’s families, neighborhoods, and institutions, including places like Ideal Barbershop.

Join us during Heritage Weekend to explore that history, reconnect with the places and people who came before us, and bring your family along. This is a rare, one-time opportunity to experience St. John Colony together.

Comment “HERITAGE” for tour details.

This activation is supported in part by a grant from Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment

𝑗𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑎 travels took her to Salt Lake City, Utah, and the FamilySearch headquarters, where she began a deep dive into her family’s history.

Most of the ancestors she uncovered had lived in Texas, many of them enslaved in earlier centuries. Documents even revealed a potential African-born ancestor.

Heritage Weekend matters to us at Black Austin Tours. We want to celebrate who we are and the contributions our communities have made.

We also want to encourage people to learn more about those they descend from. The people whose lives and labor made it possible for us to be here today, exploring, celebrating, and building community.

We want to celebrate, honor, and invite you to be part of the journey.

Join us for Heritage Weekend! Comment “HERITAGE” for more information and RSVP!

𝑗𝑢𝑙𝑖𝑎 had the line ready… just wanted to make sure we got the take 😄

What if we could take you back there? Join us for Heritage Weekend, October 23–24, for a celebration of Black history, community, and the stories that connect St. John Colony to East Austin.

Come for the documentary screening, hop on our special St. John Colony bus tour, and spend Saturday with us at Ideal Barbershop & Backyard.

Comment HERITAGE and we’ll send you the details!

Here Louis Simms is reflecting on his educational experiences in segregated schools in St. John Colony and Austin.

Louis was born in 1944 in St. John Colony, a Freedom Colony in Caldwell County. He attended the two-room school there until 1957, when his family moved to East Austin.

In East Austin, in the segregated public schools Kealing Junior High School and L.C. Anderson High School, Louis said he saw possibilities. He couldn’t rest. He wanted something better, and it turned him into an activist. Being in Austin made him question the everyday nature of segregation he had experienced earlier in St. John Colony and Lockhart.

To truly appreciate what Louis is saying, one must understand Austin in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was a place where Black people were challenging racial segregation and pushing the bounds of intentional racism. It was a place with a diverse Black population and institutions that included college students engaged in civil disobedience and active organizations like the NAACP.

As a result, Louis wanted to learn more about his ancestry and family’s experiences. He has turned those moments into research, co-preserving and curating the St. John Colony Museum. Today, he’s able to better place the lives of formerly enslaved people into the context they deserve. He’s able to understand the pressures and realities that existed, which could have influenced why they didn’t teach about slavery.

This is from behind-the-scenes footage of the 1914 East short film we are making with Funmi Ogunro 🔥 of Art is Cool | Events & Experiences to tell a deeper story of Black business at East 12th and Chicon.

Come see this film for free on Friday, October 23, and join us on our limited-edition bus tour to St. John Colony and back to East Austin.

This is part of Heritage Weekend! Comment HERITAGE below, and we’ll send you more information!

This activation is supported in part by a grant from Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment

From St. John Colony to East Austin: join Black Austin Tours led by Dr. Javier Wallace | Race + Sport for a special one-time bus tour exploring Black land, freedom, and the migration from rural communities to the city.

We’ll visit St. John Colony, one of Texas’s historic freedom colonies, meet community members, explore the community museum, and share barbecue. Through the story of Leonard F. Hill and the experiences of St. John residents, we’ll trace how these communities helped shape East Austin’s businesses and networks.

The Museum is a must because it was renovated, preserved and curated by St. John Colony descendants. That is no easy task, but telling this story is important!

Part of Heritage Weekend. Space is limited—book your seat now! Link in bio!

Comment HERITAGE below, and we’ll send you more information!

This activation is supported in part by a grant from Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment

After World War II, many Black families left rural Central Texas for Austin. Mechanization in the cotton economy displaced farmworkers. Families sought jobs and better opportunities amid persistent racial inequality.

Louis Simms, born in 1944 in St. John Colony, remembers that his family brought their home with them when they moved to Austin. His father had found work in the city. In 1957, the Simms joined relatives and friends who had already made the move, including Louis’s uncle Leonard Hill and aunt Rosa Hill. They had been in Austin for about a decade and established Ideal Barbershop in 1948.

The Simms family home was moved from St. John Colony to a spot just a few blocks from Ideal Barbershop on East 12th Street. While it was being renovated, the family lived on Walnut Street, behind what is now Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex. That house was later demolished during Urban Renewal.

Mr. Simms described arriving in East Austin as “culture shock. Moving to the big city.” He attended Kealing Junior High School. His family’s home had been built in St. John Colony by his grandfather’s sister. Its journey connects East Austin to a Freedom Colony founded by formerly enslaved people seeking to shape their own lives and communities.

Join us for From St. John Colony to East Austin, a special bus tour during Heritage Weekend on Saturday, October 24. Explore this story and the growth of Austin’s Black communities over time. Limited spots are available.

Comment HERITAGE below, and we’ll send you more information!

This activation is supported in part by a grant from Austin Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment

Azie Taylor Morton made history as the first Black person appointed Treasurer of the United States, serving under President Jimmy Carter. Check your dollar bills: currency issued during her tenure carries her signature. 💵

But her story began in St. John Colony, Texas—and came full circle there. Morton was born and raised in this Caldwell County community, and she is buried in St. John Colony Cemetery, the same place her ancestors called home.

After emancipation, Black families in St. John Colony acquired more than 2,000 acres and built a community where they could shape their own lives. That community helped raise a woman who would make history across the nation.

Join us for our Heritage Weekend bus tour from St. John Colony to East Austin to explore the people, land, and history connecting these places.

🚌 Limited spots available. Comment HERITAGE to learn more and book your seat!

Thank you Louis Simms for the tour!

What is it like to experience the history with us?
Our Heritage Tours are more than a chance to visit historic places.

They are an opportunity to understand the people, communities, and stories connected to them—and to see how that history continues to shape the places we know today.

But you don’t have to take our word for it.
Here’s what a few of our past guests had to say about their experience.

As we prepare to welcome a new wave of guests, we invite you to experience these stories for yourself.
Join us on an upcoming Heritage Tour. Reserve your spot through the link in our bio.