Booker T. Washington School (demolished) - Gainesville TX

City:: Gainesville, TX
Site Type:: Education and Health, Schools
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
Started:: 1939
Completed:: 1939

Description

Text on a historical marker at the school reads:

“In 1880, two years before the City of Gainesville created a public school system for all its children, Island Sparks, a young Mulatto, taught the black children of the city. In 1886, the city built a frame school building on this site for the community’s black youth. Originally known as the Gainesville Colored School, the school adopted the name Booker T. Washington sometime before 1927. The original two-story facility was replaced in 1939 with a red brick, WPA project structure. Desegregation in 1965-66 resulted in the closing of Booker T. Washington as a black institution.” (atlas.thc.state.tx.us)

Unfortunately, as of summer 2014, the school is slowly being demolished.

Source notes

Texas Historical Commission Atlas: https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=5097000453&site_name=Washington%2C%20Booker%20T.%2C%20School&class=5000 https://www.gainesvilleregister.com/local/x1760109837/Workers-demolish-former-Booker-T-Washington-School-building

Site originally submitted by Susan Kline on January 27, 2014.