Rocky Crest School
Lancaster, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1868, Lancaster’s first school for African American children opened in a former Confederate pistol factory. Soon after, “Lancaster Colored School” on Keller Branch served 73 students. In 1906, trustees allowed adults to offer night classes if they paid for electricity. The school had multiple locations. When Lancaster absorbed Rawlins School in 1927, brick from Rawlins was used for a new building. Laura B. White, R. B. White and J. D. Hall were longtime Principals of Rocky Crest, which taught eight grades and hosted community activities. The school expanded before Lancaster schools integrated in 1965-66. The site remains one of the area’s oldest associated with early minority education. 175 years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1868, just after emancipation, Lancaster's first school for African American children opened inside a former Confederate pistol factory, soon serving 73 pupils on Keller Branch. Known over the years as the Lancaster Colored School and later Rocky Crest, it moved among several locations, once reusing brick from the absorbed Rawlins School. Led by longtime principals like Laura B. and R. B. White, it taught eight grades and anchored community life until integration in 1965-66.
Why it matters
Rocky Crest embodies the determination of freedpeople to build schooling from the ground up, repurposing even a Confederate arms factory into a place of Black education during Reconstruction and Jim Crow.
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Related people
- · Laura B. White
- · R. B. White
- · J. D. Hall
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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