{"nrhp_refnum":"76002046","name":"Booker T. Washington Emancipation Proclamation Park","other_names":["Juneteenth Grounds"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"W side of Lake Mexia, 9 mi. W of Mexia","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mexia","county":"Limestone County","state":"TX","lat":31.654903717500048,"lon":-96.59918792515107,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A thirty-acre tree-covered park on the west bank of Lake Mexia, about nine miles west of Mexia, Limestone County, Texas, established in 1898 as a permanent site for Juneteenth celebrations. It holds a dance pavilion (ca. 1950) and a speaker's pavilion (ca. 1915).","why_significant":"The park is argued to be a tangible symbol of Black Americans' attainment of freedom from slavery for the people of Limestone County. It was bought in 1898 by the Limestone County Nineteenth of June Organization to mark the 1865 reading of the Emancipation Proclamation to local slaves. The gatherings drew local Black leaders and as many as 20,000 people, and the park still hosts the annual Juneteenth celebration.","narrative":"Booker T. Washington Emancipation Proclamation Park, also called the Juneteenth Grounds, covers thirty acres of wooded land on the west side of Lake Mexia, nine miles west of Mexia, Texas. Its two frame buildings are a raised speaker's pavilion from about 1915 and a dance pavilion on pilings from about 1950. Local Black residents began gathering each June 19 after the Emancipation Proclamation was read on a nearby plantation in 1865. In 1898, under T. K. Wagner, they formed the Limestone County Nineteenth of June Organization and bought ten acres on the Navasota River, adding twenty more in 1900. The park was later named for educator Booker T. Washington. Speakers such as Ralph Long addressed crowds there, and attendance has reached 20,000. The grounds remain a community park and the setting for the annual Juneteenth celebration, standing as a tangible symbol of emancipation for Limestone County.","period_of_significance":"1898","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Still used for the annual Juneteenth celebration and as a community park; open to the public without restriction.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.865863-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/9728/40972846/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/76002046.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972846","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34902944"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/limestone-county/booker-t-washington-emancipation-proclamation-park-76002046/"}