Rufus F. Hardin High School
Brownwood, Brown County, Texas
Marker Inscription
George Smith, born a slave in Virginia, and later a Buffalo Soldier and school trustee in Tom Green County, arrived in Brownwood in 1885 and established the town's first school for African-American children. His home and yard on Dale Street became the first classroom and he served as principal and teacher. Rufus F. Hardin became principal in 1896 and also served as a teacher. Classes were held for a time in Lee Chapel Church at Cordell and Hendrick streets. A two-story building at Cordell and Beaver streets was later used as a school, as was Emanuel Chapel Methodist Church on Bailey Street. After a schoolhouse burned in 1917, a new structure was built and Brownwood Colored School opened with three classes and an auditorium to serve ten grades. The first graduating class (1918) had five members. The school was renamed to honor Hardin in 1934. Grades nine through twelve were integrated into Brownwood in 1955 and the school became Hardin Elementary. All grades were integrated by 1966. This facility housed a Head Start program from 1966-70 and has not been used for classes since. Hardin High School is a one-story stone building exhibiting detailing characteristic of the Romanesque Revival style of architecture. Detailing includes rough-face, squared stonework and deeply recessed windows. The symmetrical front facade features two small rectangular four-pane windows on each side of the stone masonry wall. The focal point of the building is an entry portal that projects approximately two feet from the building's center. Squat piers support a round-topped arch that decorates the entry portal. Stone piers that extend two feet past the roofline flank this section. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2008
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Brownwood's first school for African-American children began in 1885 in the home and yard of George Smith, a man born into slavery in Virginia who had served as a Buffalo Soldier before becoming a teacher and school trustee. Classes moved through churches and a succession of buildings — with Rufus F. Hardin taking over as principal in 1896 — until a 1917 fire led to a new schoolhouse and, in 1918, the first graduating class of five. Renamed for Hardin in 1934, the Romanesque Revival stone school saw its grades integrated into Brownwood's schools between 1955 and 1966.
Why it matters
From a formerly enslaved Buffalo Soldier's front yard to desegregation, this school tells the story of Black Texans building and defending their own education across the Jim Crow era.
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Related people
- · George Smith
- · Rufus F. Hardin
Related events
- · Integration of Brownwood schools (1955–1966)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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