Texas historical marker dedicated at Dabney Hill

  • A HISTORICAL MARKER is unveiled on Sunday, Feb. 12, for the Dabney Hill Freedom Colony. Burleson County Judge Keith Schroeder and Gloria Smith conduct the unveiling. Also pictured are Melynda Giesenschlag, Peggy Gaskamp Sanders, Sharon Prejean and Steve Tunnell. -- Tribune photo by Roy Sanders
    A HISTORICAL MARKER is unveiled on Sunday, Feb. 12, for the Dabney Hill Freedom Colony. Burleson County Judge Keith Schroeder and Gloria Smith conduct the unveiling. Also pictured are Melynda Giesenschlag, Peggy Gaskamp Sanders, Sharon Prejean and Steve Tunnell. -- Tribune photo by Roy Sanders
  • THE OLD ETHIOPIAN STAR Lodge Masonic Hall No. 308 building at Dabney Hill was visited on Sunday by those attending the historical marker dedication. -- Tribune photo by Roy Sanders
    THE OLD ETHIOPIAN STAR Lodge Masonic Hall No. 308 building at Dabney Hill was visited on Sunday by those attending the historical marker dedication. -- Tribune photo by Roy Sanders
  • Texas historical marker dedicated at Dabney Hill
    Texas historical marker dedicated at Dabney Hill

    Dabney Hill Freedom Colony in Snook, one of more than 500 freedom colonies in Texas, could easily have been lost to history.

    Begun in the 1800s, the Dabney Hill colony was established by formerly enslaved African-American farming families, seeking self-sufficiency in rural communities.

    Daniel Dabney, a former slave born in Virginia in 1815 and brought to Texas by his owner, donated the land, and the…