Battle over historic bricks in Freedman's Town heads to court

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The battle over historic bricks in Houston's Freedman's town heads to court. Last week city crews began removing the bricks, only to be stopped by a restraining order. Now the city is fighting that order.

The hearing on the request for a permanent injunction was to be in court on Friday. Instead, the city requested a hearing be held Monday to drop the ban over moving the bricks.

The fight over the bricks in the Freedman's Town section of Fourth Ward is being waged by a preservation coalition. The city wants to remove the bricks to replace deteriorating water and sewer pipes and then put the bricks back in place.

But for those trying to protect the area's vanishing history, the bricks should not be disturbed.

"To show that the men and women who came out of enslavement and their descendants cared enough about improving their own area that they paid $125 to $610 to make it happen for them in their neighborhoods," said Doris Ellis with the Freedman's Town Coalition

The Freedman's Town section of Fourth Ward is in a national historic district. Attorneys for the preservation coalition believe that federal protection will help save the bricks.