Program participants include (left to right): Glenn Evans, descendant of Joseph Rowley, who first sold Antioch Colony land to Freedmen after the Civil War; the Rev. Raymond Mayes of Center Union Baptist Church in Buda; Joan Limuel, local artist and Buda native who unveiled the marker; Eagle Scout candidate Grant Garcia, who designed the park; Buda Mayor Bobby Lane; Leedell Bunton, descendant of original Antioch Colony family; the Rev. James Jacobs of the Word of Life Church in Kyle; and Kate Johnson, Hays County Historical Commission chair. (Photo by Jim Cullen)
STAFF REPORT
More than 150 people turned out to dedicate a state historical marker at the site of Buda’s historic Antioch Colony.
The settlement was founded in 1870 when former slaves started buying property from Anglo businessman Joseph Rowley. The colony was a thriving community with a church and school through the 1950s. In the 1970s, descendants of former residents began returning to Antioch.
Eagle Scout candidate Grant Garcia designed landscape around the marker, which is located on Old Black Colony road.
