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Site of Mosier Valley School

Euless, Tarrant County, Texas

Marker Inscription

In 1870, former slaves Robert and Dilsie Johnson received a 40-acre tract of land here as a wedding gift from plantation owner Lucy Lee. Soon other freedmen settled in Mosier Valley, and in 1883 a community school was organized. A schoolhouse, built at this site about 1924, served as a focal point for the surrounding area. It was replaced by a brick structure in 1953. Mosier Valley students were integrated in 1969. Today the site serves as a reminder of the area's earliest citizens and as a symbol of the community's rich heritage. (1983)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In 1870 the formerly enslaved couple Robert and Dilsie Johnson received forty acres here as a wedding gift, and around them grew Mosier Valley, one of Texas's oldest freedmen's communities. The residents organized a school in 1883, built a schoolhouse about 1924, and replaced it with a brick building in 1953; its students were integrated in 1969. The site honors the freed people who built a lasting community from the ground up.

Why it matters

Mosier Valley embodies the freedom communities that African Americans founded across the South after emancipation, where a schoolhouse stood as the heart of self-determination and hope.

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Related people

  • · Robert Johnson
  • · Dilsie Johnson
  • · Lucy Lee

Themes & tags

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