Mary Freeman Baylor House

The house at 1607 West 10th Street, which is a contributing structure in the Clarksville National Register Historic District, is often referred to as the Mary Baylor House.

Carey Baylor built the home in the 1950s. Later, Charles Edward Baylor, Carey’s son, and Charles’ wife, Mary Freeman Baylor, lived there with their children.

Mary Freeman Baylor, whose ancestors were among Clarksville’s earliest settlers, was a significant figure in the neighborhood’s recent history. She fought against the construction of MoPac, which wiped out a third of Clarksville's homes, and helped lead the neighborhood’s successful challenge to the construction of a crosstown freeway that would have destroyed the neighborhood. She held community-organizing meetings inside and outside her home and helped Clarksville residents find their political voice.

Baylor was also one of the leaders in the fight to get basic city services (sewers, storm drains, paved streets, sidewalks, flood control measures, street lighting) extended to Clarksville – services that all of the white neighborhoods surrounding Clarksville had enjoyed for decades. In addition, Baylor was one of the founders of the Clarksville Community Development Corporation and instrumental in the establishment of the organization’s affordable housing program.

In addition, she was a volunteer in President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty Program and worked for the City of Austin as director of the Clarksville Neighborhood Center. Under her leadership, the Center organized community volunteer and youth programs, hosted community meetings, provided food and clothing for needy Clarksville families, and helped neighborhood residents find jobs and affordable housing, among other things.

Baylor died on March 16, 1997, and was buried in Austin’s historic Oakwood Cemetery. After her death the Texas Legislature passed a resolution commemorating her work on behalf of the city of Austin and Clarksville and the City of Austin named Clarksville’s park in her honor.

At her funeral, the pastor of Sweet Home Baptist Church, Reverend W. B. Southerland eulogized Baylor as “the primary instrument in bringing Clarksville from rocks and mud to paved streets and sod around the houses.”