Quakertown

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Quakertown, right there in Denton County. In the early 1880s, something remarkable was taking root in the heart of Denton, Texas. A community called Quakertown was rising up, a thriving African American neighborhood situated close enough to the city square that you could practically hear the commerce from your front porch.

And for nearly four decades, that proximity was a blessing. Quakertown had real shape to it, real borders. Withers Street held the north edge.

Oakland Avenue marked the west. Bell Avenue stood on the east. And to the south, Cottonwood and Pecan Creeks drew the line.

Inside those boundaries, a full community breathed and worked and built itself. Churches. A physician's office.

Lodges. Restaurants. Small businesses.

Homes lining the streets. Many residents worked at businesses on the city square, at the College of Industrial Arts, now known as Texas Woman's University, and as servants in white households. But don't let that fool you about Quakertown's character.

This was a self-supporting community. It had its own foundation. And then there was the Fred Douglass School.

The neighborhood school. In September of 1913, it burned. It was rebuilt, out along Wye Street in southeast Denton, in 1916.

The marker calls that rebuilding a foreshadowing of events to come, and brother, that is exactly the right word. By 1920, Quakertown had flourished for going on forty years. But the very thing that had made it thrive, that prime location near the growing College of Industrial Arts, was about to be used against it.

Certain civic-minded interests among Denton's white residents had decided that transforming Quakertown into a city park would be in the best interest of the college and the community. You'll notice whose interests didn't make that list. In April of 1921, with little input from Quakertown's own residents, the city voted.

Three hundred sixty-seven to two hundred forty, in favor of a bond to purchase Quakertown. More than sixty families lost their homes. The majority of those displaced residents relocated to southeast Denton, twenty-one acres of land, platted as Solomon Hill, sold to them by a rancher named Albert L.

Miles. Others, including many of Quakertown's community leaders, chose to leave Denton altogether. And by February of 1923, Quakertown had disappeared entirely, swallowed up in the construction of the new park.

A community that had stood for close to forty years, its churches, its doctor's office, its small businesses, its homes, gone. The park took its place. The marker stands there now, making sure that Quakertown does not disappear a second time.

What the marker says

In the early 1880s, Quakertown emerged as a thriving African American community in the heart of Denton. Quakertown flourished through 1920, its growth due in part to its location near the city square and the opportunities it provided African Americans. The community was bounded by Withers Street on the north, Oakland Avenue on the west, Bell Avenue on the east, and by Cottonwood and Pecan Creeks on the south. Although many residents worked for businesses on the nearby city square, at the College of Industrial Arts (now Texas Woman’s University), and as servants for white households, Quakertown prospered as a self-supporting community. Several churches, a physician’s office, lodges, restaurants, and small businesses joined homes to line the streets of the community. The neighborhood school, the Fred Douglass School, burned in Sep. 1913 and was rebuilt along Wye Street in southeast Denton in 1916, foreshadowing events to come. By 1920, the proximity of Quakertown to the growing College of Industrial Arts and civic-minded interests of Denton’s white residents threatened the future of Quakertown. Many believed that it was in the best interest of the college and the Denton community to transform Quakertown into a city park. In Apr. 1921, with little input from its residents, the city voted 367 to 240 in favor of a bond to purchase Quakertown. More than 60 families lost their homes. The majority of the displaced residents relocated to southeast Denton on 21 acres of land, platted as Solomon Hill, sold to them by rancher Albert L. Miles. Others, including many Quakertown community leaders, chose to leave Denton altogether. By Feb. 1923, Quakertown had disappeared in the midst of the new park’s construction. (2010)