HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Noll School and Cemetery

Mission Valley vicinity, Victoria County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Valentin Noll (1816-1882), a German immigrant, purchased land in the C.W. Vickery survey before 1860. In 1893 his eldest son Joseph (1848-1938) deeded two acres for a free community school, built with the help of Ben Arnold, Joseph Dentler, Otto Dentler, Fred Diebel and Joe Preiss. One acre became a cemetery, opened with the burial of Jacob Dentler (1825-1894), a German settler in the Mission Valley area. The plot contains 17 graves, including those of Dentler, Noll and Preiss family members. The one-room school building was removed from this site in 1919. (1977)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

German immigrant Valentin Noll bought land in Victoria County before 1860, and in 1893 his son Joseph deeded two acres for a free community school, raised with the help of neighboring German settler families. One of the acres became a cemetery, opened with the 1894 burial of German settler Jacob Dentler, and it still holds seventeen graves of the Dentler, Noll, and Preiss families. The one-room schoolhouse was removed from the site in 1919.

Why it matters

The Noll school and cemetery preserve the tight-knit world of German immigrants who carried their language, faith, and commitment to schooling into the settlement of rural Texas.

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Related people

  • ยท Valentin Noll
  • ยท Joseph Noll
  • ยท Jacob Dentler

Themes & tags

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