Learn more about Quakertown's history

The City of Denton was officially incorporated in 1866. Shortly after incorporation, around 1875, twenty-seven families of formerly enslaved people moved from the White Rock area of Dallas and eventually bought and settled on land North of the Denton Square. The Frederick Douglass School was completed in this neighborhood in 1878 and named for the famous abolitionist. With a school for African American youth established, the community continued to grow, as parents chose to move to a neighborhood where they knew they could educate their children.

It was sometime during this period that community residents began to refer to the community by the name Quaker. The name is thought to be a reference to Northern abolitionists who were part of the Society of Friends (colloquially known as Quakers) and who helped rescue enslaved people through the Underground Railroad. Quaker, or “Quakertown” as it was known within the wider Denton community, quickly grew into a vibrant “town within a town” housing numerous African American-owned homes, businesses, and churches and growing to a population of almost 500 people by 1900.

Many of Denton’s white residents soon considered this community to be a problem. F.M. Bralley, president of the College of Industrial Arts (CIA), the precursor to Texas Woman’s University, claimed Quakertown needed to be moved so as not to jeopardize the College’s chances at accreditation. Other Denton residents agreed, especially with Bralley’s call to remove the community and replace it with a park. Denton society women were particularly involved in encouraging a passing vote for the park bond measure. The bond passed in April 1921. The Denton Woman’s Club Building was built at Quakertown Park (then known as Civic Center park) in 1928.

Quakertown residents had little recourse to save their community. They were provided the option of either accepting city payment for their property, physically moving their homes just east of the railroad tracks to a flood prone area purchased by the city for the Quakertown community, or leaving the city entirely. Several families chose this latter option moving to Kansas, California, Indiana, and even Liberia on the West African coast. By 1923 all residents had left Quakertown as the City began work on the new park.