Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum

Exhibit: Historic African American Families of Denton County

Exhibit: Historic African American Families of Denton County
Exhibit: Historic Hispanic Families of Denton County
Exhibits Located in Government Centers

The Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum houses a permanent exhibit about the Historic African American Families in Denton. This exhibit was the first of the Denton County Family History Exhibits that are in the main exhibit gallery of the museum. It tells the story through photographs and information about aspects of life in Denton’s African American community between 1875 and 1920.

There were several black communities in early Denton. In 1875, twenty-seven African American families from the Dallas settlement of White Rock came to Denton looking for a better life, and settled 2 ½ miles southeast of the Courthouse in the area around the present location of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center. They called their settlement Freedman Town. By the 1880s African American citizens of Denton began buying property and building houses and churches in the area now encompassed by Civic Center Park. They called this new settlement Quakertown. By 1900 Quakertown was a thriving community. Although the majority of businesses were concentrated in Quakertown, there were other African American homeowners throughout the city. This included the area of Peach Orchard Hill (now Texas Woman’s University’s Golf Course), several homes along Congress and Egan Streets, and the community of Freedman Town which grew larger. Not all of Denton’s African American citizens arrived after Reconstruction. Some came to the County as slaves and remained here after they were freed.

The exhibit includes information and photographs of the Taylor, Crawford, Moten, Logan, Hill, Cook, Clark, Skinner, Bell, and Maddox families from the city of Denton; the Woods family from Argyle and Denton; early educator Fred Moore and the Fred Douglas School; historic churches in Denton including Mt. Pilgrim CME Church and St. James AME Church; photographs of houses that remained in Quakertown; 1920 map showing Quakertown; 1929 map showing the relocation; and a detailed 1920 map showing the location of residences and businesses in Quakertown.

The museum is located in the historic 1896 Denton County Courthouse on the Square, at 110 West Hickory in Denton, TX. The museum is free and open to the public Monday- Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The building is handicapped accessible through the north entrance of the building.

Denton County African American Museum
www.dentoncounty.com/dcaam
or click link on this site.

The Historical Park Foundation of Denton County, Inc. has acquired an original Quakertown house and it has been moved to the Historical Park of Denton County site adjacent to the Bayless-Selby House Museum at 317 West Hickory in Denton, TX. This house will become the Denton County African American Museum. This museum will be free, open to the public, and handicapped accessible.

Dr. Edwin D. Moten Collection

Through the donations of community members, a collection of artifacts and letters from Dr. Edwin D. Moten, Sr. have been acquired. Dr. Moten and his family were early residents of Quakertown who later moved to Indianapolis. His collection will be part of the new Denton County African American Museum.

Traveling Museum and Tours

As part of the museum’s outreach program, a traveling museum about the Historic African American Families of Denton County is available to school and community groups. For further details about scheduling, TEKS, and tours, see Traveling Museum: Historic African American Families of Denton County.