Local History
Texas Juneteenth in Galveston Historical Markers: June 19, 1865, and the Word That Traveled Slow
General Order No. 3 reached Texas in Galveston on June 19, 1865. These markers trace Juneteenth from the Strand to the parks freed Texans bought to celebrate it.
Photo: Daniel Delgado / Unsplash. A Juneteenth parade.
You're rolling down Strand Street in Galveston with the windows down and the Gulf breeze coming off the harbor. At the corner of 22nd Street, a plaque marks the spot where freedom finally reached Texas. It showed up two and a half years late.
Texas has more than 16,000 historical markers, and RoadHistorical is the Texas historical preservation platform that puts them on your drive. This guide follows the Juneteenth story out of Galveston. You'll start where General Order No. 3 was read. Then you'll trace how freed Texans bought their own land to celebrate it, in Houston, Huntsville, Fort Worth, and Austin.
Where the Order Was Read: Galveston's Strand
Juneteenth is the marker at 2201 Strand. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862. It took effect on January 1, 1863. But the war kept going, and most enslaved Texans never heard about it.
That changed when Union troops landed on the island. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger worked out of the Osterman Building at Strand and 22nd. On June 19, 1865, he read General Order No. 3. It told the people of Texas that all slaves were free. It also promised "an absolute equality of personal rights" between former masters and the people they had held.
Texas was the last Confederate state where slavery still ran as an institution. Freed Galvestonians held their first "Emancipation Day" as early as 1866. The name Juneteenth came later. Texas lawmakers made it a state holiday in 1979. Congress made it a federal holiday in 2021.
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
The Church That Freedom Handed Over: Reedy Chapel A.M.E.
Head south to Broadway and you'll find Reedy Chapel A. M. E. Church. Methodist trustees bought this lot in 1848 as a place for enslaved people to worship. They met outdoors until a building went up in 1863.
When the war ended in 1865, ownership passed to the newly freed congregation. They organized the first African Methodist Episcopal church in Texas. They named it for Rev. Houston Reedy of Philadelphia, their first pastor.
The congregation didn't have an easy run. A storm damaged the sanctuary in 1875. The 1885 fire burned it down. The rebuilt church opened in 1887, then took a beating from the 1900 hurricane. The congregation rebuilt and repaired it every time.
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
Houston's $800 Answer: Emancipation Park
The news spread inland, and so did the celebrations. City authorities often pushed those early gatherings to the edge of town. So freed Texans started buying their own ground.
The Legacy of Emancipation Park marker tells how Houston did it. In 1872, formerly enslaved people pooled their money and bought 10 acres just outside the city limits. The price was $800. Rev. Jack Yates of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church helped lead the effort, along with Rev. Elias Dibble, Richard Brock, and Richard Allen.
It took churches, trustees, and a whole neighborhood to raise that money. The park hosted picnics, fairs, concerts, ball games, and military drills. Until 1940, it was the only park in Houston open to African Americans.
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
Huntsville's Emancipation Park and Jane Ward
Up Interstate 45, Huntsville has its own Emancipation Park. Families there first celebrated Juneteenth in homes and churches. Later the party moved outdoors.
By 1915, a former slave named Jane Ward had led the observance to this site. Dave Williams, also formerly enslaved, organized the Band and Park Association to raise a down payment. In 1933, a white businessman, R. A. Josey, finished buying the land for the Black community. The 9.04-acre park became city property in 1963.
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Fort Worth and Austin Kept the Tradition Going
In Fort Worth, the Douglass and McGar Parks marker remembers a park that no longer exists. In 1895, African American entrepreneur Thomas Mason bought land in the Trinity River bottoms with J. D. Johnson and A. Sumlin. They named it for Frederick Douglass.
Douglass Park hosted a Juneteenth celebration that same year. It became an annual event, and thousands came. The city even assigned a special officer to patrol the crowds. The park closed in 1925, and nothing of it remains today.
301 NE 6th Street, Fort Worth, TX
In Austin, the Rosewood Park marker tells a harder story. The 1928 Austin City Plan pushed communities of color to the east side. The city then opened Rosewood as its first public park for African Americans in 1930.
Residents made it their own. Juneteenth has been celebrated at Rosewood every year since the park opened. That's nearly a century of June 19ths on the same ground.
2300 Rosewood Ave., Austin, TX
Find it in RoadHistorical before your visit.
How RoadHistorical Finds These Markers
Discovery Mode sends you a notification as you drive past a marker. You won't miss the plaque on Strand or the one on Dowling Street. It works in the background while you focus on the road. When you stop and read, you're taking part in preservation.
The AI Tour Guide answers the questions a plaque can't, like who Richard Allen was or what happened to Douglass Park. Offline mode keeps everything working when you lose cell coverage on the way to Huntsville.
Start Discovering Texas History Today
RoadHistorical is free to download on iPhone and Android. Download it here and turn on Discovery Mode before your next drive. Android users can download RoadHistorical from Google Play.
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