Dabney Hill Lodge Hall

The Dabney Hill Lodge Hall, built c. 1910, was an integral part of the Dabney Hill Freedom Colony which was established near Snook in 1887 by freedman Daniel Dabney. The Lodge was included on Preservation Texas’s 2021 Most Endangered Places list after the church adjacent to it collapsed, and is the only institutional building still remaining in the small rural community. The lodge is an exceptional (and exceedingly rare) example of rural Black masonic lodges.

Used as storage for the last few decades, the Lodge Hall has fallen into severe disrepair. Extensive termite damage and flooding has caused the building to sink almost two feet into the earth while the remaining frame structure is on the verge of imminent collapse.

The Dabney Hill Lodge Hall has been awarded a grant of $75,000 through Preservation Texas's Rural African-American Heritage Grants Program. This funding will go towards building a new foundation, rebuilding the walls on the first floor, and covering the openings with plywood until more funding can be secured to install doors and windows.

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“Preserving the Dabney Hill Lodge is important because it preserves our identity as African Americans. It is a reminder of what our ancestors endured and accomplished with limited resources. Restoring Dabney Hill will celebrate, honor and pay tribute to the Black leaders that worked hard to build this community many years ago.”

- Jamonica Jackson, Vice President of Dabney Hill Missionary Baptist Church