Site of First Public School in Bryan
Bryan, Brazos County, Texas
Marker Inscription
At the polls on Oct. 29, 1877, the City of Bryan voted to establish a free public graded school--a very progressive step in an era of private schools. Interested citizens immediately bought and donated this block for the site. Financial help came from the George Peabody Foundation, a philanthropic agency devoted to education in the post-Civil War South. Cornerstone was laid in 1879. The first session opened in the fall of 1880 with noted East Texas educator Percy V. Pennybacker (1860-99) as principal. There were five other teachers and seven grades. Top floor of the 3-story brick building was the auditorium, used for chapel, calisthenics, and other programs. Dormer windows were set into the roof. Classrooms were on first and second floors; heating was by wood-burning stoves throughout the building. The schoolyard had a boys' and a girls' side. On each side there was an arbor with benches and tables where pupils ate lunches brought from home. A cistern with tin cups chained to its rim provided water. Outmoded by 1919, the old "Graded" (or "East Side") School became an adjunct to a new structure built that year, and housed gymnasium, cafeteria, and shop department. It was razed in 1949. (1973)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In an era of private schooling, Bryan voters took the progressive step in 1877 of establishing a free public graded school, and citizens promptly bought and donated this block for it, aided by the George Peabody Foundation for Southern education. The three-story brick building opened in 1880 under noted educator Percy V. Pennybacker, with seven grades, a rooftop auditorium, and a cistern of chained tin cups, until it was outmoded by 1919 and razed in 1949.
Why it matters
It marks an early commitment to free public education in the Reconstruction-era South, when tax-supported schooling was still a hard-won reform.
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Related people
- · Percy V. Pennybacker
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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