Site of Pecan School
Holland vicinity, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Earliest available records indicate the Pecan School was in existence by 1884. A one-room schoolhouse, built on land donated by Charles and Martha Riggs, was named for the large pecan tree on the property. It served until a two-room building was constructed in 1913. By that time, A. J. Patterson had purchased the land adjacent to the school and continued to support its progress. Students who wished to pursue a high school education did so in Bartlett and Holland after they had finished their elementary education at Pecan School. In 1948, Pecan Common School District No. 59 consolidated with the Holland Independent School District, along with five other rural districts. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
By 1884 a one-room schoolhouse stood on this Bell County land donated by Charles and Martha Riggs, taking its name from a great pecan tree on the grounds. It grew into a two-room building in 1913 and taught the neighborhood's children their elementary years before they finished high school in nearby Bartlett or Holland. In 1948 the little Pecan Common School District was folded, with five other rural districts, into the Holland Independent School District — the fate of countless one-room schools across mid-century America.
Why it matters
The one-room country school and its eventual consolidation trace the whole arc of rural American education, from neighbor-donated land to the mid-century districts that absorbed them.
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Related people
- · Charles Riggs
- · Martha Riggs
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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