Food trucks, vendors, music, and a palpable feeling of Black history-filled Ely Square as Elyria hosted its first Juneteenth celebration in the city’s history.

Organized jointly by the Elyria Black Legacy Connection with backing from the city, the event celebrated Black freedom from slavery. The holiday dates back to 1865 when Blacks in Galveston, Texas first learned that President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation two years prior. That knowledge set off a string of celebrations.

For years, Blacks in the southern United States celebrated Juneteenth and in recent years the tradition has spread steadily across the country and now is recognized as a national holiday.

Ethan West, one of the founders of the Elyria Black Legacy Connection, was the driving force behind the Elyria Juneteenth celebration. He can trace his ancestry to enslaved Black folk who worked on plantations in Tennessee, North Carolina and Arkansas, so he’s known about the holiday for years, he said.

“One set of my grandparents came up here in 1920 and another in 1950. Growing up here I’m part of The Great Migration,” West said.

West, a self-professed history nut, who also works in the car business, said the Elyria Black Legacy Connection formed out of the desire and need to tell the stories of noteworthy and successful Elyria Blacks in connection with the observance of Black History Month this past February. Boosted by the success of that project, the next step was to start a Juneteenth celebration in the city, West said.