He became Austin's first black city council member after slavery, now historic home being restored

AUSTIN (KXAN)— Tucked away in the heart of Rosewood Park is where the cabin Henry Green Madison lived in after slavery sits.

An $85,000 restoration project will now ensure it remains there. Austin Parks Foundation and the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) are leading the effort. This is all happening ahead of the 2023 Juneteenth Holiday.

According to PARD, Madison was born into slavery in Memphis, Tennessee in 1843. Once slavery officially ended in 1865, Madison moved to Austin.

Married to Louisa Green, the couple built their small cabin that they would call home at 807 E. 11th St. in Austin.

According to PARD, Green went on to be president of the Austin Chapter of the Union League and an assistant at the Texas Constitutional Convention from 1868-69. Green also was a captain of an African American unit of the Sixth Regiment of Texas State Guard and became the first Black city council member in Austin in 1871 until the end of 1872.

"Madison went on to serve as a policeman, porter, and farmer, passing away on May 31, 1912, in Austin, where he was buried at Oakwood Cemetery," PARD said.

It wasn't until 1968 that Green's historic cabin was discovered. It was inside of an expanded building that PARD said Green and his family built as they grew. Almost demolished, Green's cabin was, instead, preserved.

This became a reality with the help of the property's owner, Greenwood Wooten, who PARD said worked with the Rosewood Recreation Association and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority to break the cabin down and relocate it to Rosewood Park in 1973.

The home received a Texas Historical Marker in 1974 and was named a City of Austin landmark in 1976, PARD said.

The City of Austin's Heritage Preservation Grant program awarded a $30,000 grant for the Madison Cabin 2023-2024 restoration project. Austin Parks Foundation is contributing $55,000 in additional funds to start the design phase of restoration.

PARD said the project also has secured funding from Preservation Austin and the Trust Fund of the Texas Historical Commission.

This story will be updated by Multicultural Reporter Jala Washington.