Story

Storyteller: Charlesa Bell Gary

THE BRITTON OAKS & THE 1867 SETTLEMENT 

The Britton Oaks stand as a living testament to strength, resilience, and survival rooted in the founding of The Settlement in Texas City—the only land designated for purchase by freedmen after slavery in Galveston County, Texas. These oaks rise on land once owned by Neal Britton, grandson of Kneeland Britton, a founder of the community. In June 1865, Kneeland Britton, alongside Calvin Bell, Dave Hobgood, and Thomas Caldwell, journeyed from slavery into freedom, driving cattle along the Chisholm Trail from the Butler Ranch in League City. Through grit, labor, and determination, these Black cowboys built a self-sustaining community where homes, churches, and businesses took root. The oaks remain, bearing witness to generations of joy, hardship, love, and loss. Their legacy endures as descendants gather beneath these same trees to honor history, preserve unity, and celebrate the only Reconstruction-era Black community in the area, recognized as the 1867 Settlement Historical District.