Former African American slaves settled this area of Dallas County shortly after the American Civil War. Freedman's Cemetery, a graveyard for African Americans, was established in 1869 on one acre of land purchased by trustee Sam Eakins. Another 3 acres was acquired for cemetery purposes in 1879 by trustees A. Wilhite, Frank Read, A. Boyd, T. Watson, George English, Silas Pitman, and the Rev. A. R. Griggs, a former slave who later became a prominent local church leader and champion of early public education for the African American community. By the turn of the 20th century, a community of churches, commercial enterprises, and residences had developed in this area, and by 1912 it was part of the City of Dallas. Construction of the Central Expressway through here in the 1930s virtually eliminated all physical above-ground reminders of the cemetery. In 1965, descendants of persons buried here and the City of Dallas agreed to establish the Freedman's Memorial Park and Cemetery at this site. Beginning in 1989, representatives of the community worked with the City of Dallas and the Texas Department of Transportation to preserve the historic Freedman's Cemetery site before highway expansion.