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Texas Day by Day

July 1, 1959


African-American bus franchise in Houston suburb is first in the South

On this day in 1959, the state of Texas granted the first bus franchise in the South owned and operated by African Americans. The Acres Homes Transit Company served the predominantly black community of Acres Homes, nine miles southwest of downtown Houston. Living outside the city limits and without adequate public transportation, the residents petitioned the city hall for a permit to operate a suburban bus franchise. The AHTC had four buses that made forty-three round trips daily between downtown Houston and Acres Homes. When Acres Homes was annexed by the city, AHTC was bought by Houston Rapid Transit Lines.

Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
ACRES HOMES TRANSIT COMPANY
ACRES HOMES, TX
BUSING INDUSTRY

Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
Greatest manager in Texas League history born (1879)
Angry soldiers burn Fredericksburg store, destroying early Gillespie County records (1850)


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