King-Tears Mortuary

🏛️The era

At the turn of the 20th century, segregation shaped nearly every part of life in Austin, as it did across the South, and that included death. Black families often could not get dignified service from white-owned funeral businesses. They turned to their own community, and Black funeral homes became essential institutions that filled the gap.

The funeral business became one of the most important routes to economic independence for Black entrepreneurs. Because it served a segregated clientele that white businesses ignored or turned away, a Black funeral director could build a stable business and a respected place in the community. Many funeral directors became civic leaders, and their businesses gave them a measure of independence from white employers.

East Austin, especially along East 6th Street, became a center of Black life and commerce. Early in the 20th century, city policies concentrated Black residents and services on the east side. Within that neighborhood, Black-owned businesses grew and served the community from the cradle to the grave.

👥People & events

In October 1901, William M. Tears opened the Tears Funeral Home on East 6th Street to serve African Americans in Austin and the surrounding area. In doing so he took on one of the most sensitive jobs in any community: caring for families at their moment of deepest grief and making sure their loved ones were laid to rest with dignity.

When Tears died in 1923, his son, William M. Tears Jr., took over the business. Handing a funeral home down from father to son was common, and it built the trust that kept a family business at the center of community life across generations.

In 1933 a second firm arrived. Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. King opened King and Company, later King Funeral Home, also on East 6th Street. The fact that it was opened by a married couple is a reminder of how often Black family businesses depended on a husband and wife working side by side. The Tears firm moved to this site in 1934, and the King firm completed an extensive remodeling in 1936.

For about two decades the two businesses served East Austin side by side. Then, in 1955, they merged to form the King-Tears Funeral Home, combining two long-trusted family names. The firm continued to operate here, expanded its services and became known for charitable work in the community.

🇺🇸Its place in the American story

The story of King-Tears is part of the larger story of Black economic self-reliance under segregation. Across the country, Black funeral homes, along with Black-owned banks, insurance companies, newspapers and churches, made up a parallel economy that let communities meet their own needs and build wealth despite exclusion.

Funeral directors often had unusual freedom to act as community leaders. Their income came from Black customers rather than white employers, which made them harder to pressure economically. Some of them supported civic causes and later the civil rights movement. Their businesses served as gathering places, and their leaders were trusted voices in their neighborhoods.

The 1955 merger came at a time of great change, as the legal foundations of segregation were beginning to be challenged nationally. A business that started in 1901, when segregation was tightening, and lasted through the civil rights era and beyond is a record of how Black institutions carried their communities through the whole arc of the 20th century.

🧭If you visit

This is an operating funeral home that serves grieving families, so be especially considerate. Read the marker discreetly from public space, keep your voice down and stay out of the way of any services or gatherings. If a funeral is under way, come back another time.

Become aware of the neighborhood around you. East Austin, including the East 6th Street corridor where both firms started, was the heart of Black commerce and community life in the segregated city. Much has changed with recent development, but traces of that history are still there for those who look.

King-Tears makes a meaningful stop on a self-guided tour of East Austin's African American heritage, alongside historic churches, schools and other landmarks nearby. It's a chance to reflect on how communities cared for their own, in life and in death, when the wider society would not.