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HOUSTON -- A part of Houston’s African American history tumbled to the ground late Friday when a church in Freedman’s Town was razed. The Mt. Carmel Missionary Church was demolished after its roof collapsed and brick façade starting to crumble about noon on Friday.

It didn’t take long for city officials to declare the 68-year-old building unsafe and ordered it to be torn down.

Freedman’s Town, an area just west of Houston’s downtown, was a community established by freed slaves. The church has roots dating back to 1915 when it was founded, but the building itself wasn’t built until 1940.

It had in recent years had fallen prey to non-use and had become a haven for drug dealers, prostitutes, transients, illicit activity, bees and rats.

Still, the city’s historical commission had filed a request just a few months ago to have the building designated a protected landmark. Community activists also begged for the building to remain upright and pushed for restoration efforts to begin anew.

Previous efforts to restore the old church had failed.

By about 7 p.m. Friday, large cranes and bulldozers moved into the area and began the process of bringing the church to the ground. Work crews did manage to salvage the church bell, photos and some plaques that hung in the house or worship.

The news made Sally Wickers sad.

She was one of the people working to get historic status for the boarded-up church, but neighbor Mark Gartner says their plans began to crumble one month ago.

He said the brick walls were bulging. “There was a good 18 inches of movement in that wall. Every day you could see a difference.”

An engineer’s initial findings revealed problems.

Gartner said the final report was almost finished when the second floor sanctuary caved in and snapped the wall.

“We’ve done all we can do we’ve done all we can do and now it’s in the hands of God,” said Darrell Patterson. He’s a church member.

“This building that our ancestors built with their bare hands, so it’s a sad time for me,” said fellow church member Lue Williams.

Congregants plan to collect some of the bricks and use them for some preservation effort in the future.

Church 'a pillar of the Fourth Ward'

Keith Bolden, a man who lives near the church, said he was concerned about his neighbors who live close to the building and said the church represents a tremendous part of Freedman Town's history.

"It's been a pillar of the Fourth Ward community," he said. "This church has served this community for at least five or six decades."

According to the city, the church congregation has served the community for more than 90 years. It was the fifth Baptist church to be established in Freedman's Town.

City Councilman James Rodriguez said the building's demise is a sign that the city needs to do a better job preserving the past.

The current building was built in 1940 and was extensively remodeled in 1954. The city said that while no one thing caused the collapse, the brick facade added weight to the building.

Almost 75 percent of the district's historical buildings have been demolished, and the city said Mount Carmel is one of only nine remaining historical congregations in Freedman's Town.

"This is very devastating, heartbreaking, and hopefully we can save whatever little structure is left," said Sally Wickers of the Coalition of Pastoral Leaders.