Kennedale Independent School District
Kennedale, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Known for its farming and brick manufacturing, the town of Kennedale was not officially incorporated until 1947. However, the town's citizens recognized early the need for educational facilities for area families. To accommodate their need, the Kennedale Independent School District (ISD) was established around 1890. The first school was a two-story frame building located near the current Administration Building, with all students taught by one teacher. At that time, the academic year was only two months, suiting the needs of the agricultural community. Over the next twenty years, the area grew and so did the need for educational facilities. In 1913, the Kennedale ISD purchased this site for a new school. To reflect the town's brick manufacturing heritage, the new two-story building was constructed with brick. Althought the building had no running water or restroom facilities, the property included a large green space for gardening or outdoor activities. The second floor of the school featured movable walls to create an auditorium for school and community plays and events. In 1938, seeking federal assistance to expand the school campus, the school district applied for funding through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). While it is unknown if the school district was awarded federal funds to build new classrooms, oral history attributes the old rock wall to the WPA. The Kennedale ISD campus changed over the years, but the rock wall remains as a reminder of Tarrant County and Texas Depression-era structures. (2016)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The farming and brick-making community of Kennedale established its school district around 1890, decades before the town formally incorporated in 1947. The first two-story frame school had a single teacher and a two-month academic year built around the farm calendar. A brick schoolhouse rose on this site in 1913, and though its origins tie to the WPA era, an old rock wall — attributed by local memory to Depression-era federal labor — still marks the campus.
Why it matters
Kennedale's schools illustrate how rural Texas communities organized education around agricultural rhythms and how New Deal programs later left their mark on small-town life.
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Related events
- · Works Progress Administration
Themes & tags
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