Kelsey School
Enon, Upshur County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the late 1890s, brothers John and James Edgar settled along Kelsey Creek, and were soon joined by other Latter-Day Saints families from their native Alabama. By 1901, church officials established the area's first branch and school, with Manasseh J. Blackburn as teacher. County commissioners formed Kelsey School District No. 45 in 1907. The school built a two-story brick building in 1911. In the 1920s, smaller nearby schools closed and more students came to Kelsey. However, failed crops and the Great Depression caused the area's population to drop, and the school closed in 1943. Kelsey School is remembered as a unique partnership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the State of Texas, and Upshur County. (2010)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the late 1890s the Edgar brothers and other Latter-day Saint families from Alabama settled along Kelsey Creek, and by 1901 church officials had founded the area's first branch and school. Upshur County created Kelsey School District No. 45 in 1907, and a two-story brick schoolhouse rose in 1911, drawing students as smaller nearby schools closed. Failed crops and the Great Depression thinned the population, and the school closed in 1943.
Why it matters
Kelsey School reflects a rare partnership among the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the state, and a Texas county, and the boom-and-bust of a rural Depression-era community.
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Related people
- · John Edgar
- · James Edgar
- · Manasseh J. Blackburn
Related events
- · Great Depression
Themes & tags
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