St. John Association

 _{Bureau of Identification Photographic Laboratory, City of Austin, Texas. St. John Orphanage Track, Proposed Naval Hospital Site, photograph, March 13, 1945; ( https://texashistory.unt.edu/ : accessed Oct. 15, 2022), University of North Texas Libraries,  The Portal to Texas History ; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.} 

"A large number of African American churches were established in Travis County in the late nineteenth century, many of which remain active congregations today. African American Baptist churches in particular developed rapidly after the Civil War, largely through the efforts of the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association. The association remains an active organization today, and their  website  provides useful historical information about the development of African-American Baptist churches in Travis County. In 1867, four African American ministers met in Austin in the Wheatville community at 25th Street and Leon Street where they decided to divide the state of Texas into four divisions, or Baptist associations, in order to spread the Baptist faith and establish new African American congregations. Each minister developed an association for their area of the state, which included the Lincoln Baptist association, Guadalupe Baptist Association, Mt. Zion Baptist Association, and the Travis County Baptist Association, which would later be renamed the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association. The Travis County Baptist Association was established in Austin by several significant African American ministers including Reverends Jacob Fontaine, Jessie Shackles, John Winn, Sr., Calvin Allen, and Buffington and Horace Smith.”

 --African American Settlement Survey, Travis County, Texas - October 2016 

"Rev. Fontaine was elected the first moderator of the group of some 12 churches, which initially were called the Travis County Baptist Association before the name was changed. When Rev. Fontaine created the organization in 1867, eight pioneer churches of about 300 members were represented. The Association included churches over long distances in the late 1800s, from 80 miles East to West and 75 miles North to South, with rugged, muddy roads, hills, swampy valleys and houses far apart, and reachable by foot, or in wagons, buggies, and surries drawn by horses, mules or oxen. Families helped each other, often stranded in travel, but reached services to 'preach, pray, sing and shout, shake parting hands and return home rejoicing in the God of their salvation.' as Rev. S. L. Davis recalled during the Association's Centennial in 1967. In 1894, the Association under Moderator L. L. Campbell, negotiated purchase of 303 acres for the St. John Orphan's Home built in 1906."

--Fontaine, Rev. Jacob III, with Gene Burd.   Jacob Fontaine, From Slavery To The Greatness Of The Pulpit, Press, Public Service  . Austin: Eakin Press, 1983.

St. John Orphan home, designed by Austin architect  John Andrewartha , burned down twice. The original building was claimed by fire soon after opening, and a larger structure was built to replace it. Reopening in 1917, the new St. John Orphanage remained intact for almost 40 years until it burned again in 1956. The Orphanage was located near where the ACC Highland Campus is today.

“You know, I was talking about bronze statues of children playing at a splash pad or something like that,” Arnold says. “Just something to really show what this area was meant to be for the African-American community at that stage in history. Again, it’s just really rich history that would be nice if it wasn’t buried."

--James Arnold, interviewed for the KUT article,  "Who Were The Streets In This North Austin Neighborhood Named After?" 

Below is a poem written for the 100th Anniversary of St. John Baptist Church. It can be found in the 100th Anniversary Booklet, 1967 at the Austin History Center.

"Old St. John Poem" Dedicated to The St. John Regular Baptist Association by Hazel O. Thorne

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, my story today. Of a Zion Hill not far away Acres of land so wide and so long. And collections of Christians called Old St. John. Had is beginning under an old oak tree, Which stands today to remind you and me That God cares not for buildings of fine stone and gold, But dwells where there’s humbleness and pureness of soul. We know that surely God has been there, For under no other circumstances could she have been able to fare, The trials and tribulations that have threatened her frame: And in spite of this, she remains the same. Thru many years she has come though the way has been hard, Not just of herself, but with the help of God: Shaken and tried by the evil forces of sin, She has forced herself into the hearts of men. Of course, the men that stood by her are brave and true, Like A. K. Black, Robinson, Thorne, and many others, too; In fact, the entire Association has joined hand in hand. To make their way together towards the Promised Land. The years now are not far away, The heads of the promoters are turning gray. But though their time be out and they’ve passed and gone, There will always be an “OLD ST. JOHN”.

"Highland Mall opened in 1971 as Austin’s largest regional shopping center and the city’s first indoor mall. Once a flourishing enterprise, the mall lost favor with customers and struggled to remain a viable venture. In 2010, ACC formed a partnership with RedLeaf Properties and began purchasing sections of the mall complex — 1.3 million square feet of indoor space on 81 acres. The college purchased the last portion of the mall infrastructure in late 2012 and began redeveloping the mall structure into a state-of-the-art college campus and its surrounding property into a vibrant, mixed-use community."

--Austin Community College Highland  Website 

Phase 1 of the project included completing the main Highland Campus which hosts classrooms, study labs, a library and the  ACCelerator . As of 2022, Phase 2 of the project has been completed, which added flexible, advanced facilities for the career and technical education and hands-on experience needed for today’s jobs. Facilities include:

• Creative Digital Media Center
• Health Sciences/STEM Regional Simulation Center
• Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management Center
• Continuing Education
• Workforce Center

There was a focus on art, culture, and history during the development of the new campus. The  streets around the campus  were renamed to honor ACC staff, as well as some of Austin's historic figures.

 Jacob Fontaine Lane:  Rev. Jacob Fontaine (1808-1898) played a key role in developing what is now the Highland area. His leadership in the St. John Baptist Association benefited the African American community in Central Texas. Highland Campus sits on the original site of the St. John’s Orphan Home.

 St. John’s Encampment Commons:  Trustees also approved the name for a 2.6-acre green space within the development. The St. John’s Encampment Commons will be a public area and include a permanent marker describing the Highland community’s history. Encampment refers to the era when hotels and restaurants would not accommodate African Americans attending St. John Baptist Association’s annual conferences. Attendees often camped out on the association’s land and took part in picnics, games, exhibits, and educational activities.

The Jacob Fontaine Plaza: Fontaine's legacy was not only built around faith, but learning as well. Fontaine's newspaper, The Gold Dollar, contained the English alphabet in upper and lower case letters, as well as various Biblical tidbits such as the numerical equivalent of currency listed in various chapters. The oak trees that line the plaza were the avenue of trees that once marked the driveway when the site was still Highland Mall. The Jacob Fontaine Plaza  celebrated it's opening in September 2020  with the art installation "Thicket", as seen in the following video.

In September 2022, ACC unveiled "Bridges to Success", an artistic representation of the college's areas of study with contributions from both K-12 students across Central Texas, ACC students and staff. The mural was created by Amado Peña, Texas native and internationally acclaimed Southwest artist.