Site of Wesley School
Wesley, Washington County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Czech immigrants came to this area in 1859 and renamed it Wesley community. Professor Josef Masik tutored children in his home. The Bohemian Slovakian Reading Club of Wesley provided the first area school building about 1863. School was taught in the Wesley Brethren Church, a larger facility, beginning in 1866. As the area grew, another structure was required in 1873 and again in 1898. The school relocated to a former store on this site in 1911. It became an eight-grade school in 1927. A new building was erected in 1931 as the population continued to grow, and the school served ten grades in 1949. Enrollment fell as people left rural areas for the city, and in 1953 the school again served eight grades. It was closed and merged with Brenham schools in 1961. The last Wesley School building on this site burned in 1962. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Wesley took its name from the Czech immigrants who settled here in 1859 and built an early Czech community, where Professor Josef Masik first tutored children in his home. Schooling moved from a reading-club building to the Wesley Brethren Church and through a succession of larger structures as the farming community grew, reaching this site in 1911. Rural decline emptied the classrooms, and the school merged with Brenham in 1961; its last building burned a year later.
Why it matters
The school traces the deep roots of Czech immigrant culture and community education in central Texas.
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Related people
- · Josef Masik
Themes & tags
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