Fairview Cemetery and School
Wills Point, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
R. H. Reeves donated one acre of land in 1875 to the Fairview community for church and school purposes. A one-room log schoolhouse was erected on the site, and part of the land was set aside for a cemetery. The oldest documented burial in the cemetery is that of Susanna Carter in 1876. Most of the graves were dug by family members and friends. In 1945 the last burial occurred at the Fairview Cemetery. After the log school burned down, another wooden school building was constructed on the site. When the student population increased, another room was added, making the schoolhouse an L-shaped structure. Pupils and their teachers either walked to school or rode horses or mules. Many teachers boarded with local residents. In the early 1920s, the two-room school was torn down, and the lumber was used in part to erect a larger three-room school. J. F. Liston donated land to the school in 1924 for a teacherage and playground. The economy of the area was dependent on cotton farming. Cotton production declined in the 1930s-40s, and many families moved away. The school closed in 1945, but was used as a community center for many years until it was destroyed by fire in 1995. (1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
R. H. Reeves donated an acre to the Fairview community in 1875 for church, school, and cemetery use, and a one-room log schoolhouse rose on the site, with the earliest documented burial in 1876. Families dug most of the graves themselves, and the schoolhouse grew room by room — becoming L-shaped, then a three-room building — as cotton farming drew more settlers. When cotton faltered in the 1930s and '40s and families moved away, the school closed in 1945 and later served as a community center until fire destroyed it in 1995.
Why it matters
Fairview's linked cemetery and school trace the full arc of a cotton-farming community, from hopeful founding through the agricultural decline that emptied much of the rural South.
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Related people
- · R. H. Reeves
- · Susanna Carter
- · J. F. Liston
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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