2025 marks 160 years since June 19, 1865, when a fleet under U.S. Navy Gen. Granger arrived in Galveston, TX, after months of Texan defiance, to enforce emancipation-by-gunboats with General Order No. 3—declaring all enslaved people free, in accordance with the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. The celebrations in Black Texan communities marking this hard-won achievement annually became known as Juneteenth Jubilee or Emancipation Day. Soon, Juneteenth had spread across the United States, as the African-American diaspora—fleeing the oppressive Jim Crow laws in the South—carried this tradition to their new homes.
The Denton Juneteenth Celebration recalls that the first public announcement of Denton Juneteenth was published in 1892. Although we have only rewritten transcripts of reminiscences, we can bet the celebration of freedom had begun long before then. Denton was founded in the 1850s but was not incorporated until 1866. In 1870, 32 Black residents lived among the small population of 361, but Denton County’s Freedman Colonies soon grew rapidly as hubs like The Quaker in Denton thrived.
The first recorded celebration of Juneteenth in Denton, TX, occurred in 1892 at “The Y” — the intersection of Pecan Creek and Cottonwood Creek, between the Denton Civic Center and Emily Fowler Library. Prior to 1892, emancipation celebrations definitely occurred in Denton’s Quakertown District, yet historians and oral histories suggest the first celebrations in Denton County were probably held in nearby Pilot Point, near County Line Baptist Church—one of the earliest freedman churches.
Statewide, early Juneteenth celebrations began with a parade or march, where participants would gather in their finest clothing—led by a musical ensemble—and walk together to a community picnic site for a day of food, camaraderie, games, music, and merry nights of song. “There is nothing small about Denton when it comes to holding a picnic,” an 1892 Denton County News proudly reported of a St. James Church gathering. “It makes no difference what the color of the participants may be.” The same holds true today!
Check out the full line-up of events on the 2025 Denton Juneteenth schedule here!
Shaun Treat is a former professor at the University of North Texas and founder of the Denton Haunts historical ghost tour. Doc has written about numerous local places and personalities at his Denton Haunts blog and is forever indebted to the great work of our local keepers of history, like Mike Cochran and Laura Douglas at the Emily Fowler Library, or the Southeast Denton Mavens of Black History, for their tireless work in helping preserve Denton’s intriguing past. Be sure to check out our local museums curated by the fine folks at the Denton County Office of History & Culture, and other events like the Denton Blues Festival and Denton Black Film Festival.