Local News

Mosier Valley Park Expansion to Honor First Freed Slaves in Texas

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Tony Maples Photography

 

City officials from Fort Worth have recently announced an expansion project for historic Mosier Valley Park. The project, at a cost of $73,120, will work to honor the first freed slaves living in Texas.

When word of the Emancipation Proclamation had spread across the United States, this community in Fort Worth is where many of the first freed individuals settled in Texas. “The establishment of Mosier Valley Park has been a wonderful vehicle that is unifying the community,” explained Fort Worth City Council member Gyna Bivens.

Home to at least 10 freed slave families, Mosier Valley Park was founded in the 1870s along the Trinity River. While, at present, this park has all of the components required for a Fort Worth city park (i.e. courts, trails, and playgrounds), it will also pay tribute to the community’s historical importance as well as the first people that moved to it in freedom. “Considering the fact this location is where the first freed slaves settled in Texas, I am confident it will be one of the state of Texas’ destination spots,” Bivens further stated in a press release. As part of the expansion project, a historic designation or interpretive commemoration will also be dedicated at the site specifically acknowledging the history of the area.