Site of Old Houston Academy
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded 1856. Lost most of its male students to Confederate army in Civil War. In 1864-1865 building was used as an army hospital. Was site in 1867 for the lying-in-state of body of General Albert Sidney Johnston, who had lived near Houston. (A secretary of war, Republic of Texas; veteran of Black Hawk War, Texas Revolution, Mexican War; Gen. Johnston died in 1862 Civil War Battle of Shiloh.) Became Clopper Institute, 1881. In city school system, has been known as Central High and Sam Houston High School before use as school district headquarters.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Houston Academy opened in 1856 and quickly felt the Civil War's pull, losing most of its young men to the Confederate army and serving as a military hospital in 1864–65. In 1867 the building held the lying-in-state of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, the Texas Republic secretary of war and career soldier killed at Shiloh. The school was later reborn as Clopper Institute and, within Houston's public system, as Central High and Sam Houston High School.
Why it matters
The academy's shifting roles — schoolhouse, wartime hospital, and civic memorial — trace how the Civil War reached into even the classrooms of a growing Texas city.
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Related people
- · Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston
Related events
- · Battle of Shiloh
Themes & tags
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