Dayton's African American community emerged through struggle, endurance, and perseverance. In the mid 19th century there were approximately 100 slaves in the Dayton area. After news of the Emancipation Proclamation arrived in Texas on June 19, 1865, at least six small communities around Dayton were established, with the Black church as their focal point, including Low Woods, where Pleasant Hill Baptist Church was founded in 1871; Beauty Street, with Mt. Olive Baptist Church in 1891; French Settlement, with Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church in 1903 and St. Joseph Catholic Church in 1939; as well as Five Mile Settlement, Sawmill Quarters, Eastgate, and Dugat Quarters. These and other African American churches provided spiritual guidance, wholesome social opportunities, burial assistance, and early educational support through small schools, with ministers serving as the first recognized teachers before congregations hired others. In 1891 W.F. Blair built a hardwood mill near Dayton that employed many African American men, whose families lived in company housing and, despite modest wages, often bought land for farming and raising livestock for personal and commercial use. Blair hired educator Annie Fairchild Colbert to teach the mill workers' children, and she began in a one-room shack before helping build an educational facility with a stage near present-day Luke and Prater Streets. One of the first African American teachers hired in Texas public schools, Colbert taught in Dayton from 1892 to 1914, and the "Colored School" built in 1933, now known as Colbert on South Colbert Street, was named in her honor. Before the 1940s, under harsh living conditions, African American farmers worked small gardens called truck patches, harvesting sugarcane, fruit, and other vegetables for sale and home use. Dayton's documented Black-owned businesses included Ed Paul's well-digging and cane syrup business, Johnny and Catherine Dugat's cleaners, Luke Walker's Blue Bonnet Cafe, Rufus Dugat's Cafe, Thomas and Verella Zeno's Barbeque Joint, and Socrates "Sprig" Wicklliff's blacksmith shop, alongside the work of Felix Bernard and midwife Melinda Glass, who delivered both Black and white infants. Much of this history is unwritten, but rural cemeteries preserve it, including Acie Cemetery, a predominately African American public cemetery with more than 80 known veterans and the grave of Henderson Day, namesake of Henderson Day Park; Day Cemetery at the end of Prater Street; Ligons Cemetery on Sawmill Road; and Old Negro Cemetery in Kenefick, Texas. Through churches, school, community involvement, and the perseverance of men and women under difficult conditions, Dayton's African American citizens created a rich legacy that continues to contribute to a growing and thriving city.