Site of Center Grove School
Lovelady, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Houston County school records dating from 1904 list two schools for African American students: Center Hill and Smith Grove. The schools merged in 1925, forming the Center Grove School. The community that grew up around the school was called Center Grove. By 1950, most Center Grove graduates went on to college. Sources of particular pride were the sports program, which had its own gym after 1952, and the vocational, agriculture, music, sciences, and homemaking programs. Many graduates returned to provide a quality education for area African American young people until the district was integrated in 1969. (1998) Incise on base: Honoring Principals H. L. Wooten and W. C. Williams
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the segregated schools of early-20th-century East Texas, Black families in Houston County built their own path to learning. Two schools for African American children, Center Hill and Smith Grove, merged in 1925 to form the Center Grove School, and a whole community took its name from the campus. By mid-century it was sending most of its graduates to college, powered by strong sports, vocational, music, and science programs, and it served the area until desegregation finally closed it in 1969.
Why it matters
It is a testament to how Black communities under Jim Crow created excellence within schools they were forced to run separately, and to the bittersweet cost of integration that shuttered those beloved institutions.
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Related people
- · H. L. Wooten
- · W. C. Williams
Related events
- · School integration, 1969
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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