Allen Academy
Bryan, Brazos County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This school originated as Madison Academy, founded in 1886 in Madisonville by John Hodges Allen (1854-1920), an educator from Mississippi. When his brother Rivers O. Allen (1865-1925) joined him in 1896, the institution became Allen Academy, a private boarding school for boys. During the summer of 1899, the Allens moved the school to Bryan. In the early years of the 20th Century, enrollment steadily increased. The campus was enlarged and new buildings erected to accommodate the students. During World War I, military training was introduced. In 1925 John Allen's son Nat Burtis Allen (1892-1946) became director of the school. During his tenure, the academy continued to grow and gained national recognition. When he died in 1946, the campus contained over 300 acres, including a farm and dairy. His son Nat Burtis Allen, Jr. (1919-1973) guided the institution until 1973 and led in establishing broader curriculum. Allen Academy is the oldest accredited, non-sectarian preparatory school for boys operating in Texas. Its graduates include leaders in government and business. Today the institution is coeducational and offers a broad range of scholastic programs for boarding and day students. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Allen Academy began in 1886 as Madison Academy, founded in Madisonville by Mississippi educator John Hodges Allen and renamed when his brother Rivers joined him a decade later. In 1899 the Allens moved their private boys' boarding school to Bryan, where it grew across the early 20th century, added military training during World War I, and earned national recognition under three generations of the Allen family. It endures as the oldest accredited, nonsectarian preparatory school for boys in Texas, now coeducational.
Why it matters
A family-run academy that lasted more than a century, Allen shows the enduring role of private preparatory schooling in Texas education.
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Related people
- · John Hodges Allen
- · Rivers O. Allen
- · Nat Burtis Allen
Themes & tags
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