When the first contracts were signed between the Federal Housing Authority and the city of Newark, Baxter Terrace was among the first projects to be built.

[4] The complex was named after James M. Baxter, the principal of the first high school for Black students in Newark.

[2] One of the first public housing facilities in the United States, Baxter Terrace was open for 68 years.

The 14 acres of housing was informally segregated, with Black people living on one end, and whites on the other.

[5] The façade of Baxter Terrace was preserved in demolition, with parts being brought to and displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.