Site of Leatherwood School
Crosbyton, Crosby County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This area of Crosby County was settled in 1898 by the family and relatives of M. G. Leatherwood. As other families began to arrive, the need for a nearby school became apparent. As a result, the Leatherwood Common School District was created in 1912. The first classes, held in the spring of 1913 in a one-room schoolhouse on land donated by M. G. Leatherwood, were taught by Ellsworth Ham. The location of the school was changed twice before it was moved to this site at the eastern edge of the county. At the height of its growth, Leatherwood School employed three teachers who taught 36 students in a three-room schoolhouse. In 1935 the Zumalt School District consolidated with Leatherwood, but by 1945 only elementary students were being taught here. The final classes at Leatherwood were held in 1949, when the area was made part of the Crosbyton School District. Leatherwood was typical of many early Texas rural schools in that its longevity was influenced by the migration from farms to the city. Although rural schools were closed as farm populations decreased and improved roads and transportation made the cities more accessible, their histories play an important part in the heritage of public education in Texas. (1983)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This corner of Crosby County was settled in 1898 by the family and relatives of M. G. Leatherwood, and as more families arrived they created the Leatherwood Common School District in 1912. The first classes met in a one-room schoolhouse in 1913, and at its peak the school grew to three teachers and thirty-six students. It consolidated with a neighboring district in 1935 and held its final classes in 1949, closing as farm families moved to the cities.
Why it matters
Leatherwood's rise and fall is the story of countless rural Texas schools, whose fortunes tracked the great twentieth-century migration from the farm to the city.
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Related people
- · M. G. Leatherwood
- · Ellsworth Ham
Themes & tags
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