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Owners of historic farm file complaint against development company
A Travis County judge has issued a temporary restraining order against a development company after property owners filed a complaint claiming the company crossed onto a historic farm. The land is the homestead of a freed slave who was also a major figure in the horse breeding industry. FOX 7 Austin's Rudy Koski has details.
PILOT KNOB, Texas - *NOTE* The Alexander family contacted FOX 7 and provided an update that the current acreage of the farm is 41 acres.
The chores on The Alexander Farm today still involve rounding up cattle. But Marcellus Alexander, Jr. told FOX 7 Austin that when he was growing up there his job was a little tougher.
"This farm gave me my first job. Now that job came with a 4:00 am wake-up call. We were milking cows for Superior Dairies at that time before going to school," said Marcellus.
Marcellus and his siblings are trying to restore the family farm. It's located near Pilot Knob, just south of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, along Hwy 183. The land, originally about 73 acres, was purchased by their great-great-great grandfather Daniel Alexander.
"My dream is that I'm focused on the next generation, right? That we can put this farm into shape and have it so that people can come out and look at it and see this is what is possible," said Marcellus.
Daniel Alexander is buried on the property with other family members. He was a former slave of the McKinney family and back in the mid-1800's became a notable horse trainer.
"So it is a huge, huge connection to history and Texas history and Travis County history in the United States. There are few that have the kind of connection that we have to this place. We're still here. There are so many families that don't know the generations that have passed. So many African-American families. And this current issue that we're in sort of reminds me of one of MLK quotes, and that's well known. And he said the measure of a human being I'm paraphrasing the measure of a human being is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he or she stands in times of controversy," said Rosalind Alexander-Kasparik.
Austin's urban growth is encroaching on the farm. The Alexanders say work on a nearby development recently crossed onto the farm. A temporary restraining order was granted last week by a Travis County judge; pausing construction.
"That's a great word. That was what it was about, pausing this, so we can make sure that the development that takes place does not encroach upon the Alexander Farm land," said Ashton Cumberbatch, the attorney for the family.
The fight, according to Cumberbatch, is not only about preservation, it’s also about prevention.
"Between 1920 and 1997, black farmers in the U.S. lost $350 billion worth of farmland. That's a lot of farmland. The Alexanders want to make sure they don't become part of this statistic. This is their legacy to Alexander Farm is their legacy. And it's you know, it's history. And it's not just their history. It's Travis County history. It's Texas history. It's American history," said Cumberbatch.
The company that the TRO was filed against is called AMTEX. It's based in California. FOX 7 Austin reached out to the company and received a statement on January 17. It is as follows:
"AMTEX purchased the property from the Alexander family more than 2 ½ years ago. AMTEX commissioned a survey of the purchased property and has confirmed that all work has been within our property boundaries. Since recently learning of a temporary stay order, our attorneys have reached out to the Alexander family to assure them that areas outside our property’s boundaries remain undisturbed, including taking appropriate measures to mitigate any stormwater runoff."