Old Red Schoolhouse
Trinity, Trinity County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Trinity’s first schoolhouse was a one-room log structure built in 1872 near Cedar Grove Cemetery. A two-story frame schoolhouse that stood on this site from 1897 to 1911 was moved several blocks northwest to serve African American students. Under Supt. J. Woolam Bright, construction of a new brick building began here in 1911, and after many delays it opened by 1915. The prairie style, T-plan building housed all grade levels until completion of an adjacent high school in 1928. “Old Red” served as a schoolhouse for 80 years. When it was slated for demolition in the 1990s, concerned citizens and former students worked with the school district to preserve the historic building for continued use.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Education in Trinity began humbly in 1872 with a one-room log schoolhouse near Cedar Grove Cemetery. The sturdy brick building known as "Old Red" rose here beginning in 1911 under Superintendent J. Woolam Bright, opening by 1915 in a prairie-style, T-plan form that housed every grade until a high school was added in 1928. An earlier frame schoolhouse on the site was relocated to serve the town's African American students—a reminder of segregated schooling. When demolition loomed in the 1990s, former students and citizens rallied to save the building for continued use.
Why it matters
"Old Red" reflects how small-town Americans invested in public schooling and, generations later, chose to preserve those halls as living community landmarks.
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Related people
- · J. Woolam Bright
Themes & tags
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