Austin City Council advanced an initiative to rename city assets with ties to the Confederacy or white supremacy, including Plantation Road in South Austin. (Community Impact staff) (Elisabeth Jimenez/Community Impact).)
Two South Austin roadways will be renamed in honor of an historic church and a local civil rights activist. One of the changes also represents the latest effort by the city and some community members to strike Confederate references from Austin's public assets.
In a nutshell
Stretches of Paisano Trail and Plantation Road, located south of West William Cannon Drive and east of Brodie Lane, are being renamed after City Council voted in favor of the updates July 23. The updates include:
Relabeling a portion of Paisano Trail as Zion Rest Lane, commemorating the more than 120-year-old Zion Rest Missionary Baptist Church located on the roadway
Designating Plantation Road as Tommie Lee Wyatt Lane, honoring the former Black business community leader and reporter following his death in January
Signage for the new Zion Rest and Tommie Lee Wyatt roadway designations will cost $458 and $1,592, respectively, and will be funded through the Austin Transportation and Public Works budget.
Last spring, council member Paige Ellis initiated Plantation Road's replacement by noting the original name's relationship to "longing for an agricultural economy dependent on the forced labor of enslaved African Americans." The road is also located in the historic Kincheonville area, a freedmen's farming community founded in 1865.
Ellis said community outreach about the renaming initiative resulted in an "enthusiastic yes" from neighbors, leading to this summer's official update. About 53% of the more than 120 people who responded to Austin's recent public engagement about the proposal were in favor, according to city reporting, while about 35% were opposed.
The new name will honor Wyatt, co-founder of The Black Registry of Austin Businesses in 1969 and The Villager newspaper in 1973, according to city biographical information. He was also involved in other journalistic, community and business organizations, and was recognized as a pioneering leader and activist, according to the city.
“I’m glad to see this about a year later taking effect, and helping us make our community better and reflecting the good parts of it and not the bad parts of it," Ellis said July 23.
Zion Rest Missionary Baptist Church, located in the historic Kincheonville area, will be honored with a new street name in the community. (Community Impact staff)
The Paisano Trail renaming in honor of Zion Rest was launched by council member Ryan Alter. Also located in the historic Kincheonville area, the church was founded in the early 1900s and has had its current facilities in place for decades.
About 52% of dozens of respondents to a city survey about the renaming were in favor, with about 38% against. A Zion Rest representative also asked Austin to consider other local roadway improvements and an extension of the new street name to cover the full Paisano Trail, although those proposals haven't yet advanced.
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