Freedman Town
Navasota, Grimes County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Following emancipation in 1865, freed slaves purchased lots from Ira Malcolm Camp on land known as Camp Canaan. They established a community that they renamed Freedman Town. Citizens quickly erected homes and established churches, schools and businesses, many of which remain and have played a major role in the development and success of the area. A 1919 Dallas Express article reported a large and thriving African American community in Navasota with a flourishing business district, a testament to their determination during a time of segregation. Other amenities built by and for the African American community included a swimming pool and baseball field.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After emancipation in 1865, freed people in Navasota bought lots from Ira Malcolm Camp on land known as Camp Canaan and renamed it Freedman Town. They quickly raised homes and founded churches, schools, and businesses, building an independent community in the heart of a segregated South. By 1919 a Dallas newspaper described a large and thriving African American district with a flourishing business section, along with amenities like a swimming pool and baseball field created by and for the community. Much of what they built still stands and still shapes the area today.
Why it matters
Freedman Town is a living example of the self-made Black communities that formerly enslaved people established across the South after the Civil War. Its endurance through the decades of segregation testifies to African American determination and institution-building.
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Related people
- · Ira Malcolm Camp
Themes & tags
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