America's Oldest Black Neighborhood Still Fights In 1810, Claude Tremé subdivided his New Orleans plantation and sold it to free people of color—creating America's oldest Black neighborhood where, by 1841, 80% of property was Black-owned. At its heart was Congo Square, where enslaved and free Black people gathered every Sunday to drum, dance, and preserve West African culture—rhythms that became the foundation of jazz. In 1862, Tremé launched The Tribune, America's first Black-owned daily newspa