A San Marcos neighborhood is fighting to keep its identity while at the same time working to improve the quality of life for people living there.
The Dunbar neighborhood has historically been an important place for many African-American families.
Perhaps the most well known person from the Dunbar neighborhood is jazz pioneer Eddie Durham (1906 - 1987). He influenced the musical movement known as Southwestern Swing during the 1920s and 30s.
For his contributions, the San Marcos City Council recently awarded more than $110,000 in grant money to create the Dunbar Heritage and Museums District.
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Dunbar neighborhood
The San Marcos Dubar neighborhood was recently named a historic district, but not without controversy.
 
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"We voted to make the Dunbar a historic area," San Marcos Mayor Bob Habingreither said.
But some worry Dunbar's historic designation will bring costly government regulations to repair and renovate the number of rundown homes.
"When you put those kinds of restrictions on poor people, they're not going to be able to afford all of those regulations, so subsequently they end up losing their house and the city taking their property," said Kyev Tatum, of the Hill Country chapter of NAACP.
San Marcos leaders say that's not their plan. Although there's no clear plan yet on how to improve the area, members of the Historic Association say they'll keep working with the city, residents and San Marcos businesses to create one.
Despite the city's efforts to maintain the neighborhood's heritage, many say Dunbar remains a very poor neighborhood.
Homes are in disrepair. Businesses are gone. Buildings are abandoned.
“This is an area where there's just a need for an infrastructure where there are some jobs and income so people can raise families and afford houses," Derrick Benn of the Dunbar Heritage Association said.
Dunbar hasn’t has a school since desegregation ended in the 1960s.
"The very first thing that needs to happen is we need to put a school back in Dunbar. [One] building is used as a community center and it's only occupied 25 percent of the time. Which means it's running an economic deficit to the city. We could put a school in this building or put a school in our neighborhood and it would generate more economics," Tatum said.
An effort to make Dunbar a better place is underway. Neighbors are selling T-shirts to gain support.
What they want for Dunbar is a more prosperous future and preserved past, so future generations won't forget people like Eddie Durham, who made this neighborhood important.
