Answers to Go
Q. Where can I find information about Black history in San Marcos?
The best place to start when A. researching local Black history is the Calaboose African American History Museum located at 200 W. Martin Luther King Dr. in San Marcos. The Calaboose has letters, books, photographs and artifacts that cover all aspects of African American life in San Marcos and Hays County. Right now the museum is closed, but they are offering virtual programming for Black History Month. Check out their website for more information about these programs (calaboosemuseum.org). The museum is scheduled to reopen for visitation in March on Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
The San Marcos Public Library also has a local history collection. We recently added the Johnnie M. Armstead African American History Collection to our catalog (sanmarcostx.gov/Library). This digitized collection is viewable online in PDF format. The original documents are viewable at the Calaboose Museum. You can find this collection by searching “JAHC” in the library catalog. I recommend starting with the file titled “Dr. Holt's Brief History.” This document gives a brief overview of the history of African Americans in San Marcos beginning with slavery in the 1840s to desegregation in the late 1960s.
There are files on several important places, such as “The Beat” (a social and economic hub of the Black community that housed businesses and accommodations for locals and travelers before desegregation), “Dunbar School” (previously known as the Negro High School), “First Baptist Church NBC” (established in 1866 as the Colored Baptist Church Zion in the historic Dunbar Neighborhood), and others. You can also find biographical information on important local figures such as Eddie Durham and Ulysses Cephas, and much more.
In addition, the library has physical files in our Tula Townsend Wyatt Collection (TTWC) on local Black history topics. You can search our catalog for these by typing “TTWC” and your topic, such as “TTWC African Americans” or “TTWC Calaboose.” These files will be available for viewing in-person when the library reopens (date to be determined). If there is a particular file you would like to look at before then, please send an email with your request to our librarians at smpl@sanmarcostx.gov.
