Biardstown School
Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The history of schools in Biardstown is closely associated with the Biard family, early settlers of the area. The first school in the community was in the log home of William Washington Biard. In 1867 John Wilson Biard, son of William Biard, and his wife Lizzie donated land for a schoolhouse. It was replaced by a second building in 1885. The rural school became a part of the Delmar Independent School District in 1949. The Biardstown School building was converted to serve as a community center. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Schooling in Biardstown began in the log home of William Washington Biard, an early settler, and in 1867 his son John Wilson Biard and wife Lizzie donated land for a dedicated schoolhouse, replaced by a second building in 1885. The rural school joined the Delmar Independent School District in 1949, after which the building was converted into a community center.
Why it matters
The school illustrates how pioneer families themselves provided the first education in rural Texas, and how one-room schools gave way to consolidated districts in the twentieth century.
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Related people
- · William Washington Biard
- · John Wilson Biard
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Antioch Cemetery and Old Antioch Church of Christ
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Founded in the first years of Texas statehood between 1846 and 1848, this was the first Church of Christ in Lamar County, organized by Elder Thomas Barrett with the pioneer family of Rebecca Stone Biard, who had come from Alabama to start the Biardstown community. William W. Biard donated his 20-foot log cabin—outfitted with split-log seats and a stick-and-dirt chimney—for the first sanctuary, and at his mother's death in 1848 he gave the land for the cemetery, where her grave was the first. Both the log church and its successor doubled as community schools, and though the congregation disbanded around 1920, burials continue to this day.
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