Juneteenth marks the day on June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers landed at Galveston and reported that the Civil War was over, and slavery had ended. The Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves had been in effect since Jan. 1, 1863, but word did not reach Texas for more than two years.
https://www.georgetowntexas.gov/dept_news_detail_T39_R505.php

