Site of Ivy Chapel and School
London, Kimble County, Texas
Marker Inscription
THE IVY COMMUNITY WAS NAMED FOR SAM, JACK AND BOB IVY, BROTHERS WHO MOVED TO KIMBLE COUNTY IN 1883. S. H. IVY DEEDED TWO ACRES OF LAND IN 1898 FOR A SCHOOL SITE AND A STRUCTURE WAS BUILT NEARBY. IN 1917 IVY DONATED ANOTHER TRACT OF LAND, AND A SCHOOLHOUSE WAS BUILT THAT YEAR. THE BUILDING ALSO SERVED AS A COMMUNITY CHAPEL AND PREACHERS HELD SERVICES ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH. THE BUILDING WAS THE SITE OF SOCIAL GATHERINGS, SUCH AS BOX SUPPERS, AND WAS USED AS A VOTING PLACE. ALTHOUGH IVY SCHOOL WAS CONSOLIDATED WITH NEARBY LONDON SCHOOL IN 1939, THE CHAPEL CONTINUES TO SERVE THE AREA. (1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Ivy community took its name from brothers Sam, Jack, and Bob Ivy, who came to Kimble County in 1883. S. H. Ivy deeded land for a school in 1898 and again in 1917, when a new schoolhouse rose that doubled as a community chapel, voting place, and site of box suppers and other social gatherings. Though the school consolidated with London in 1939, the chapel has continued to serve the area.
Why it matters
The one-room school-and-chapel captures how a single building could hold together the educational, spiritual, and civic life of a Hill Country settlement.
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Related people
- · Sam Ivy
- · Jack Ivy
- · Bob Ivy
- · S. H. Ivy
Themes & tags
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