A Celebration of Freedom on Lyons Avenue

I came across some wonderful photos of a Juneteenth parade in Houston that were undated and lacking locations. Considering this was a Juneteenth event, it would have occurred in one of Houston’s three historically-Black neighborhoods: Third Ward, Fourth Ward (Freedmen’s Town), or Fifth Ward.

The businesses shown in the photo helped narrow down the neighborhood rather quickly. I found newspaper listings for a J. Dyche Furniture Mart at 2911 Lyons Avenue and a Hyman Furniture at 2919 Lyons Avenue.

Fifth Ward it is.

Finding the Date

As for narrowing down the date, the J. Dyche Furniture Mart, according to city directories, opened a location on Lyons Avenue sometime between mid-1946 and mid-1947. “Store Closing” advertisements began appearing in December 1961.

As for Hyman Furniture, while I found city directory listings without an address dating to 1952, listings with an address began in 1955. Based off of this information, the photo was definitely taken sometime between 1952 and 1961.

It’s all in the flag

In the photo above, a float with American flags can be seen in the background. The next two photos are closeups of the same float on a United States Marine Corps flatbed truck. Both the truck doors and a sign hanging from the flatbed advertise a local business by the name of, Houston’s Own 1st Cargo Company.

Though the photos are in black and white, this procession was likely very patriotic and filled with vibrant red, white, and blue decorations.

These photos also provide another clue regarding the time frame. The American flag behind the 3 ladies only has 48 stars meaning that Hawaii and Alaska had not yet received statehood. Since Alaska and Hawaii received statehood in January and August of 1959, we can conclude that these photos were taken sometime between 1955 and 1958.

Sadly, Lyons Avenue looks nothing at all like the first photo today.