The Original Building of Tivy School
Kerrville, Kerr County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Captain Joseph A. Tivy, a Canadian born in 1818, settled in Kerr County about 1870. He served as Kerrville's first mayor and as a Texas legislator. He surveyed most of the Kerrville area and gave land for a city park. In 1890, he gave 16 and 2/3 acres for a school on this site and 100 acres to be sold to build and furnish the school. Classes began October 1891. Among the early students was Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. The native stone building was severely damaged by fire in 1942 and the facade stuccoed. This building housed Tivy High School until 1967. (1978)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Captain Joseph A. Tivy, a Canadian-born surveyor who settled in Kerr County around 1870, served as Kerrville's first mayor and a state legislator. In 1890 he donated land and a hundred acres to fund a school on this site, and classes began in 1891. Among its early pupils was Chester W. Nimitz, the future Fleet Admiral of World War II; the native-stone building was damaged by fire in 1942 and housed Tivy High School until 1967.
Why it matters
A frontier civic leader's gift of land became the school that educated one of America's greatest naval commanders, linking a small Hill Country town to the global stage of the Second World War.
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Related people
- · Joseph A. Tivy
- · Chester W. Nimitz
Themes & tags
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