The Settlement Historic District - Texas City, TX
Posted by: jhuoni
N 29° 22.941 W 094° 58.631
15R E 308115 N 3251972
The Settlement Historic District features the core of the only independent African-American Reconstruction community in Galveston County, Texas.
Waymark Code: WMZQX4
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 12/24/2018
Views: 3
From the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form:
"The Settlement Historic District in Texas City, Texas, is comprised of the historic core of the Settlement community,
founded by former slaves in the years after the Civil War. The district is centered on the intersection of North Bell Drive
and the 100 block of South Bell Drive, with cross-streets Carver Avenue and Eunice Street, at the west side of Texas City,
about three blocks north of Highway 1765, and between three and six blocks west of Highway 3. The district includes
four contributing frame residences dating from c. 1887 through the mid-20"' century, one noncontributing residence, and a
contributing 1943 brick commercial building. Also included within the boundary is a lot devoid of buildings, but with two
large oak trees planted during the period of significance."
Statement of Significance
"The Settlement Historic District features the core of the only independent African-American Reconstruction community
in Galveston County, Texas. The community dates its founding in the post-Civil War era and is older than many of the
surviving mainland towns and cities in the vicinity. With its roots going back to black cowboys from the Chisholm Trail
days of Texas and the period of Reconstruction, it helps tell the little-known story of the saltgrass cattle ranges of the
Texas Gulf Coast. The Settlement was annexed into the city of Texas City in 1953, but it retains the character of its
earlier days as an independent community. The district is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under
Criterion A, in the areas of Settlement and Ethnic Heritage/Black, at the local level of significance."