Pease School
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This is one of the oldest school buildings in Texas erected from public funds; on university block set aside for school purposes by Republic of Texas in 1839. This school was opened in 1876; it was named for Gov. Elisha M. Pease (1812-1883), a leader in legislation that laid groundwork for support of public education in Texas. Rooms at center of building were erected in 1876; restored after a fire in 1892. Additions were made in 1916 and 1926, and remodeling was done in 1949. Thousands of children have received basic education within walls of this historic school. (1972)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Austin schoolhouse rose in 1876 on a block the Republic of Texas had set aside for education back in 1839, making it one of the oldest public-funded school buildings in the state. It honors Governor Elisha M. Pease, whose mid-century legislation helped lay the financial groundwork for Texas public schools. Rebuilt after an 1892 fire and repeatedly enlarged, its walls saw generations of children through their first lessons.
Why it matters
The school embodies the long, uneven struggle to build tax-supported public education in a frontier state, a cornerstone of American democratic life.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Elisha M. Pease
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Pease School Building
Austin, TX
Dedicated in 1876 on ground the Republic of Texas had set aside for education back in 1839, the Austin Graded School House was one of the first Texas schools built entirely with public funds. The three-story limestone building held twelve rooms and served 200 students until an 1896 fire; rebuilt around its original walls, it was renamed in 1902 for former Governor Elisha M. Pease. Later additions by architects Dennis R. Walsh and Hugo Kuehne expanded the simplified classical building still in use.
Austin High School_Rio Grande Campus
Austin, TX
Edwin Waller's 1839 plan for Austin set aside two blocks for schools at Rio Grande and 12th Street, and by 1881 the school board was teaching every grade there, from primary through high school. Austin High moved to this campus in 1925, and the late 1920s brought a burst of student life—the Red Jackets, the Red Dragon drama club, and the 'Austin Maroon' newspaper. Renamed for Stephen F. Austin in 1953, the school used the site until 1975, after which it joined the Austin Community College system.
Boardman-Webb House
Austin, TX
Dr. George T. Boardman, a dentist who helped incorporate the American Dental College, bought this Austin lot in 1855 and built a Victorian residence around 1880. In 1925 it became home to Walter Prescott Webb, the University of Texas historian who won international fame for his studies of Texas and the American West, and his wife Jane, a leader in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. Webb served 45 years at UT and was president of the American Historical Association in 1958.
St. David's Rectory
Austin, TX
Built in 1910 for Annie and James McClendon, this modified four-square house served St. David's Episcopal Church as its rectory from 1914 to 1975. The church later gave the home as a retirement gift to the Rev. Charles Sumners, a noted minister and community leader, and his wife Virginia, who lived here for decades. Its leaded-glass windows, stacked-rock chimney, and decorative brackets survive as an example of early-20th-century Austin residential design.