Juneteenth has a long history in Fort Worth. Here’s a glimpse at how it was celebrated

The annual celebration held to commemorate June 19, 1865, the date enslaved people in Texas learned of their freedom, wasn’t always called Juneteenth.

Texas newspaper accounts from the late 1860s refer to the observance of Emancipation Day. The earliest mention found of a celebration in Fort Worth appeared in the June 21, 1881, Fort Worth Democrat, a white newspaper. It was a patronizing announcement noting, “[we] all suppose they feel much freer, happier and better since, for the fifteenth time, they have heard the emancipation proclamation read,” perhaps implying that there had been prior celebrations.

During the late 1890s, the term Juneteenth began to turn up occasionally in Texas newspapers, and the Fort Worth papers made mention of celebrations every two or three years. Douglas Park, a private venture and the first park for African Americans in Fort Worth, was established in 1895 by Thomas Mason. It was named for Frederick Douglass, but the final “s” on his name was not used.

Located on the east side of North Main Street at North Third Street (south of where Coyote Drive-In now sits) in the Trinity River bottom lands, the park became the regular location for Juneteenth celebrations. Various railroads offered special excursion fares for “colored citizens only,” and many visitors came to larger towns – including Fort Worth – to celebrate.

In February 1918 the City of Fort Worth purchased Douglas Park at the urging of African American citizens and made it a city park. The city demolished the park’s pavilion immediately following the 1918 Juneteenth celebration, leaving it without usable facilities. City officials were surprised that park usage dropped dramatically. The city sold the land in 1920, repurchasing it for use as a white athletic field in 1922.

For the 1919 Juneteenth celebration, Fort Worth organizers found a nearby location across Main Street and slightly south of Douglas Park. Herman Park was a private white park owned by the Texas Beverage and Cold Storage Co., formerly Texas Brewing. The managers were having a difficult time attracting events to the park. An electric plant built just to the south in 1912, construction of the Paddock Viaduct in 1913, and looming prohibition impacted both park access and desirability.

Fortunately Oscar C. Crook, the man pictured on the poster image that accompanies this column, worked as a messenger for Texas Beverage. He was able to negotiate a deal for use of the park. It was, alas, a one-time deal, and future Juneteenth celebrations moved to a variety of locations including Lake Como, Dixie Park, and Greenway Park.

For many years, Juneteenth was the only day of the year when African Americans could visit the Fort Worth Zoo. Interest in celebrating Juneteenth decreased in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the civil rights movement grew.

In 1972, Bob Ray Sanders wrote a Star-Telegram story about how Juneteenth celebrations had dwindled to a smaller event in Como. He recounted how Dr. Marion “Jack” Brooks wanted to revive Juneteenth as a way of promoting pride in black identity.

In 1974, Fort Worth celebrated the first “Cowtown Juneteenth,” as a way to commemorate both emancipation day and African American heritage.

Carol Roark is an archivist, historian, and author with a special interest in architectural and photographic history who has written several books on Fort Worth history.

This story was originally published June 6, 2020 at 8:00 AM.