John C. Collier Home
Mansfield, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This structure was built in 1877 as a residence for the founder of Mansfield Male and Female College, John C. Collier (1834-1928). A native of South Carolina, Collier was distinguished educator and Presbyterian minister who in 1869 was asked to establish a school in Mansfield. The college operated from 1870 until 1887 and produced outstanding graduates and community leaders. Located west of the college, the home served also as a residence for female teachers and students. From 1890 to 1909, the A.J. Dukes family owned the Collier house. They made some major alterations to the home, including the addition of Mansfield's first indoor bathroom. Occupants of the home from 1909 until 1944 were Dr. William B. and Sallie (Hodges) McKnight, both of whom had graduated from Mansfield Male and Female College. Dr. McKnight established a medical practice in Mansfield in 1895 and also served as physician for the Southern Pacific Railroad. The house was adapted as Mansfield first funeral home by T.E. "Ernie" Blessing in 1944. Significant for its association with an early Texas educational institution and with several families of community leaders, the John C. Collier Home has remained a landmark in Mansfield. (1985)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1877 for John C. Collier—a South Carolina–born educator and Presbyterian minister invited to start a school in Mansfield—this home stood beside the Mansfield Male and Female College he founded, which operated from 1870 to 1887 and trained a generation of community leaders. Over the decades it also served as teacher housing, a family home that gained Mansfield's first indoor bathroom, and eventually the town's first funeral home.
Why it matters
It preserves the memory of an early Texas college and the educator whose school shaped a frontier town's civic life.
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Related people
- · John C. Collier
- · Dr. William B. McKnight
Themes & tags
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