Saginaw School
Saginaw, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Jarvis J. Green settled here in 1882 and named the site for his former home of Saginaw, Michigan. The Fort Worth and Denver and Santa Fe railroads later crossed here, and in 1892 the first school opened. It was a tuition school on McLeroy Boulevard which became a public school the following year. A 1910 teachers strike against child labor in the school led to the creation of a local parent-teacher association. Fannie Gillen donated land at this site in 1913 and trustees built a two-story brick schoolhouse, replaced in the 1930s by a Preston Geren-designed school funded through the Works Progress Administration. Saginaw schools combined with Eagle Mountain in 1948, and the campus, with several additions, has continued to serve the community. (2007)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Jarvis J. Green settled this railroad crossroads in 1882 and named it for Saginaw, Michigan, and by 1892 the community had its first school. A 1910 teachers' strike against child labor sparked one of the area's early parent-teacher associations, and in the 1930s the Works Progress Administration funded a new Preston Geren–designed schoolhouse. Through consolidation and expansion, the campus has taught local children for well over a century.
Why it matters
Saginaw's school shows how a one-room tuition class grew into a public institution, and how New Deal relief programs quietly rebuilt the schoolhouses of small-town America.
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Related people
- · Jarvis J. Green
- · Fannie Gillen
- · Preston Geren
Related events
- · Works Progress Administration
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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